RIAA Pullin Kicc Does..lol

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Apr 26, 2002
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posted 8:40am EST Mon Jan 12 2004 - submitted by Joshua

It appears that the RIAA has taken the law into its own hands. Dressed in black "raid" vests, flashing impressive IDs, and filling out pink incident reports, four men descend on a street vendor selling bootleg music CDs and convince him to give up his stash. All of the raiders have RIAA stenciled on the back of their vests, and all are ex-cops.

The RIAA thinks that this is perfectly okay, and has a clear picture of who its enemy is. According to John Langley, Western regional coordinator for the RIAA Anti-Piracy Unit, "a large percentage [of the vendors] are of a Hispanic nature. Today he's Jose Rodriguez, tomorrow he's Raul something or other, and tomorrow after that he's something else. These people change their identity all the time." This is the reason he gives for filling out incident reports and taking pictures of "offenders," at least.

The EFF also seems to think that this is acceptable. Jason Schultz, one of the group's staff attorneys, said it was "exactly what the RIAA should be doing." And the RIAA seems to be moving more in that direction, having just recently hired the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives department (ATF) as the new leader of its anti-piracy unit.


source:
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2004Jan/gee20040112023398.htm



something is going to have to be done here they are doing to much...
 
Apr 26, 2002
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#3
good question

Guess its just falls under their jurisdiction...but what does tobacco have to do with it?(atf) unless its concerning smugglin I guess or something....
 
Apr 25, 2002
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The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) is a tax-collecting, enforcement and regulatory arm of the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

In its first quarter-century ATF has had only 4 Directors: Rex Davis, G.R. Dickerson, Stephen Higgins, and John Magaw. The director is appointed by the secretary of the Treasury, and reports to the under secretary (enforcement). ATF headquarters are in Washington, D.C., although most personnel and many ATF operations are decentralized throughout the country, with a few stations overseas. ATF agents, inspectors, and support staff are involved in investigating some of the most violent crimes in society, in regulating some of the most important and sensitive industries in America, and in collecting over $13 billion in annual revenue. Charged as it is with fiscal oversight of some of the most controversial topics in Western civilization, ATF strives to maintain professional neutrality while giving a 35-to-1 return on every dollar it spends. ATF has the best cost-to-collection ratio in the federal family.


In 1789 under the new Constitution, the first Congress imposed a tax on imported spirits to offset a portion of the Revolutionary War debt assumed from the states. Administration of duties fell to the Department of the Treasury, whose Secretary, Alexander Hamilton, had suggested them. Congressional lawmakers were favorably impressed by the results. The imports tax was augmented by one on domestic production in 1791. Taxpayers had grumbled over import duties. Some of them greeted the domestic levy --- as they do today --- with political resistance, escalating in that early case to the short-lived Whisky Rebellion of 1794. Both revenue sources survived rebellion --- as they do today. Although these particular taxes were eventually abolished, similar devices for revenue came and went as needed until 1862. By Act of 1 July 1862, Congress created an Office of Internal Revenue within the Treasury Department, charging the commissioner with collection, among others, of taxes on distilled spirits and tobacco products that continue, with amendments, today. Because taxation so often does evoke resistance, including criminal evasion, during 1863 Congress authorized the hiring by Internal Revenue of "three detectives to aid in the prevention, detection and punishment of tax evaders." Tax collecting and enforcement were now under one roof.

National dismay over the weaponry wielded so conspicuously by organized crime during Prohibition led to passage in 1934 of the National Firearms Act, followed in four years by the Federal Firearms Act. The newly regulated articles might be firearms, but taxes were involved as ever. The Miscellaneous Tax Unit, Bureau of Internal Revenue, collected the fees. In 1942 enforcement duties for the "Firearms Program" fell to the ATU, which was accustomed to managing controversial industries. In a major Internal Revenue reorganization of 1952, the nearly-century-old Miscellaneous Tax Unit was dismantled. Its firearms and tobacco tax responsibilities went to the ATU. The Bureau of Internal Revenue became the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) we know today. Acknowledging a portion of ATU's new burden, IRS renamed it the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division. This incarnation lasted until 1968 passage of the Gun Control Act, which gave to the laboratory, among other things, responsibility for explosives. The division title shifted to Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) Division. Title XI of the Organized Crime Control Act in 1970 (Title XI) formalized ATF Division explosives expertise.

Treasury Department Order No. 120-1 (originally No. 221), effective 1 July 1972, transferred to ATF from IRS those functions, powers and duties related to alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives. (During the mid-1970s at Treasury's direction ATF briefly assumed responsibility for wagering laws; that task returned to the IRS in less than 3 years.)

from: http://www.atf.gov
 
Apr 25, 2002
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#10
FBI Coming To Local Record Stores
By Clarence Burke Jr.
Date: 1/21/2004 12:20 PM
http://www.allhiphop.com/hiphopnews/?ID=2781

In an effort to deter music piracy, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has struck a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

The music industry was granted permission to use the FBI logo in CD packaging, warning against unauthorized copying of music.

Individual labels are at liberty as to where the logo should be placed.

The logo will also carry a warning about possible criminal charges for unauthorized reproduction.

The RIAA has targeted consumers with hundreds of lawsuits related to downloading copyrighted songs from the Internet.