RIAA: Warrents Not Required - The UpStream

RIAA: Warrents Not Required

posted Sunday May 22, 2011 by Jon Wurm

RIAA: Warrents Not Required

The combination of RIAA being high off of it's recent and only victory over Lime Wire and representatives from the state of California being crazy could spell disaster for optical disc plants and beyond. There is legislation already passed by two state senate committees that permits state law enforcement agencies to seize disc printing equipment and pirated discs from optical disc plants without a court warrant. So basically because they feel like it.

RIAA seems to think that 90% of illegal discs originate from these replicator plants. Apparently around 70 of these plants reside in California where an estimated 70 million illegal discs are printed each year. California reps seized more than 820,000 discs last year and insist piracy has a big impact on the state economy and retail sector. Accruing to state Senator Alex Padilla,

Fraudulent CDs and DVDs undermine our economy and California's role as a global leader in music and film. They steal revenue from artists, retailers, and our entertainment sector.

Hit the break to find out more about the Gold Coast crackdown.

The state legislation cleared the Committee on Public Safety unanimously and the Appropriations Committee with a 5-2 vote. Next week there will be another Senate committee vote as similar legislation was introduced into the Federal Government by 11 Senators. This legislation would allow them to bring lawsuits against websites that are "dedicated to infringing activities." Cara Duckworth, an RIAA spokeswoman sums up their reasoning for doing whatever they want.

Given the music community's large presence in California and significant contributions to the state economy through thousands of jobs and benefits, this narrowly tailored bill helps ensure these contributions are preserved while sending the important message that counterfeit replicators are not welcome in the state. If a replicator is already in compliance with state law, they should have nothing to worry about with this proposed legislation.

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