SWAT Teams Enforcing Copyright

techliberation ^ | 1/17/07 | Tim Lee

[traviskicks]

Radley Balko, who has tirelessly publicized the problems created by the promiscuous use of SWAT teams, reports that federal police in Atlanta have used a SWAT team to help the recording industry enforce copyright law. Even worse, the target wasn't even a commercial piracy operation:

Last night, a federal SWAT team assisted the RIAA in a raid on the studio of Atlanta musician DJ Drama. This local news report says the locally famous mixtape DJ is under investigation for piracy. But Drama's supporters say the DJ is a mix artist, not a bootlegger. They say news footage of the raid shows RIAA officials boxing up only recordable CDs filled with mixes, not bootlegs of retail CDs (the local news reporter seems to conflate the two as well).

Assuming for a moment that RIAA and federal officials do indeed know the difference between a mash-up DJ and a bootleg operation, and that they did find evidence of actual piracy in the bust, there's still the problem of why RIAA officials were participating in a police action, and why a SWAT team was used to raid a professional studio under investigation for a nonviolent, white-collar crime.

Quite so. It's not like this is a fly-by-night operation selling CDs out of the back of a truck. This is clearly not the sort of problem that justifies dramatic police raids. If the RIAA thinks DJ Drama's activities violate copyright law, they have plenty of civil law remedies available that don't involve Gestapo tactics.

Also, check out the gratuitous smearing of the two as drug dealers and gangsters. A police officer comments that "In this case, we didn't find drugs and weapons, but it's not uncommon for us to find other sorts of contraband when we execute a search warrant."

If they didn't find drugs or weapons, why did this factoid merit a mention in the story?

[traviskicks]

A few days old..., but it hasn't made it to FR yet.

[pnh102]

<sarcasm>

Glad to see that our law enforcement resources are protecting us from such evil, dangerous criminal masterminds.

</sarcasm>

[Huck]

yeah boy! hang the DJ!

[gaijin]

It must be nice working in Hollywood, with a War on Terror, War on Drugs, and 6,000 illegals invading over the border every night....

RIDICULOUS

[Wormwood]

Anything to justify bloated budgets and shiny new toys of our militarized police.

[mysterio]

[mysterio]

The RIAA needs to be broken up with an antitrust suit.

[traviskicks]

Here's another (much older) story that has been sent my way:
Police admit they planted a gun at Huntington Beach crime scene
looks like 'training' is the new excuse for police abuses, the Las Vegas excerpt is especially scary (cops 'forgot' they were 'training' and charged the person with possession of drugs they planted)





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[traviskicks]

ping

[weegee]

Rock and Roll PING! email Weegee to get on/off this list (or grab it yourself to PING the rest)

Your tax dollars at work.

Beware the military-entertainment complex.

[AFreeBird]

First DRM, now SWAT raids.

iTunes, on your iPod now come with an iCop.

[weegee]

At least the RIAA isn't impersonating law officers in this instance. They've been known to wear black jackets with RIAA in big yellow letters on the back and seize the inventory of vendors at flea markets.

[weegee]

Antitrust? RIAA needs to be jailed for interstate racketeering.

[Tijeras_Slim]

SWAT team lead by DJ Grandmaster Flashbang.

[RobRoy]

Think I'll go watch Brazil again...

[LambSlave]

Police admit they planted a gun at Huntington Beach crime scene

I read this article... absolutely unbelievable...

[ansel12]

Wow! What a story.

[traviskicks]

here's a story about the RIAA working with the secret service:
http://www.itworld.com/Man/2683/021211riaa/

lol

[jrooney]

I am sure it has more to do with the swat team was used because some rap artists and their entourage carry guns and drugs, even when they are in rap studios. Intelligence provided by the swat team or to it may have suggested the possibility of weapons and potential violence by some within the building. If that was the case, it is always safer to use a swat team to enter a dangerous environment.

[Hegemony Cricket]

Even Lars Ulrich Knows It's Wrong!