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Recording Industry Decries AM-FM Broadcasting as ‘A Form of Piracy’ | Threat Level from Wired.com
The recording industry and U.S. radio companies have squared off for decades about whether AM and FM radio broadcasters should pay royalties to singers, musicians and their labels.
But now the debate is getting meaner; there’s more at stake as the recording [...]
From Threat Level:
A Brooklyn man was convicted of criminal copyright infringement Thursday for his role as part of the “Apocalypse Production Crew” — a piracy group that specialized in releasing yet-to-be-published music, movies, software and video games to downloaders.
Barry Gitarts, 25, is the first accused internet music pirate to take his case to a criminal [...]
Alleged distributor of counterfeit pharmaceuticals extradited from Asia
Randy Gonzales, 40, a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, was extradited to the United States from Bangkok, Thailand, for conspiring to import and distribute counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs into the United States, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle and Robert Rutt, Special Agent in Charge of the [...]
Not only is this a crime that hurts the American economy — and therefore results in higher costs for consumers — it is also be the cause of serious illness or even death. If a patient is dependent upon prescription medication and is unwittingly taking counterfeit drugs, her life could be in danger. And yet, these crimes capture little attention in the media and even less in many law enforcement circles.
The Los Angeles Times reports that a dozen people were arrested yesterday on charges of narcotics trafficking, money laundering and selling counterfeit goods after a two-year counter-terrorism and drug investigation centered in Los Angeles’ downtown garment district.
The link between drug smuggling and counterfeit goods operations with the financing of terrorist activities is well known in [...]