Let’s be clear about something: counterfeit goods are, indeed, a problem, do, in fact, have ties to organized crime, and are, as a rule, fairly crappy and worthless, so you shouldn’t buy them. However, the actual concerns from grown adults are due to stuff that really can kill you: fake drugs, for example, or badly constructed electrical equipment that shorts out and starts a fire. Fake medications in particular are nasty and horrible. The government, on the other hand, just doesn’t want you to buy a fake DVD because that makes the ghost of Jack Valenti sad.
Seriously, this PSA wants to convince you that buying a fake DVD means you’re part of an international crime ring that pushes drugs onto eight-year-olds before pimping them out and making their parents fight in gladitorial games. You know, because it’s simple and easy for the vast majority of Americans to find and buy a counterfeit DVD in the first place, instead of paying ten bucks on Amazon for the real thing.
Thanks, federal government! We’re so glad our tax dollars went to that!
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Jesus. Why don’t they just have a GIF of Osama laughing from hell every time a bootleg DVD is bought?
Working for the RIAA and MPAA must be like punching the clock at KAOS or The Legion Of Doom
I know it is very convenient for people to think that it is just a few bucks, and no one gets hurt. But who do you think is running these markets? Do you really think that an individual would have the time, resources and technical ability necessary to produce hundreds of fake DVDs for sale at cut rate prices and still make money? Organized crime runs these markets, and now we are facing state-sponsored (or at least government looking the other way) counterfeiting in China, Russia, North Korea, India, etc.
It does cost jobs, it does put money into the pockets of criminals, and it does fund other illegal activities. I am not trying to be a pollyanna and think that everyone will accept personal responsibility in their own assistance funding these kinds of groups, but to publicly put down an effort to educate is just ridiculous. I am guessing the posters here don’t consider fake ID’s a big deal either?
[investigativeconsultants.com]
Wait…seriously? The RIAA is hiring comment trolls now?
My problem, FakeFighter, is that anybody who actually understands the problems behind counterfeit goods understands that the real problem doesn’t lie in five buck DVDs. Which you’d know, if you’d read the article, but I get it: that’s not what you’re paid to do.