Don't ship pirated DVD's through FedEX

[BWF89]

The dogs, Lucky and Flo, faced their first test at the FedEx UK hub at Stansted Airport. sniffer dogs

"FedEx was glad to assist in Lucky and Flo's first live test in a working situation. They were amazingly successful at identifying packages containing DVDs, which were opened and checked by HM Customs' representatives. While all were legitimate shipments on the day, our message to anyone thinking about shipping counterfeit DVDs through the FedEx network is simple: you're going to get caught."

Kinda makes me thing twice about shipping anything through FedEX. Seriously, this is like training drug dogs to find plastic bags.

From the MPAA press release:

"United Kingdom, Los Angeles - - The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT), express delivery company FedEx and HM Revenue & Customs, has joined forces to launch an exciting new initiative to help combat DVD piracy.

As part of a project promoted by the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), FACT instigated the training of two black Labradors named Lucky and Flo by one of the world's leading experts in the field whose other clients include police, fire and rescue service. The dogs were trained over an eight month period to identify DVDs that may be located in boxes, envelopes or other packaging, as well as discs concealed amongst other goods which could be sold illegally in the UK. These DVDs are often smuggled by criminal networks involved in large scale piracy operations from around the world."
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/05/10/2331237
http://www.spacegrinder.com/article8.html

[DigitalDuality]

first off...lol this is stupid and it'll never work.

To begin with, the dogs failed at their duty.

2ndly, you can't tell me a burned dvd of legal material is somehow different than illegal material?

What? we have copyright sniffing dogs fully aware of copyright/patent laws as it applies to each collection of bits and bytes? lol

This just means i'm not using FedEx for this breech of trust. DVD pirates are not like drug dealers for crying out loud.

[briancurtin]

im pretty sure id kill someone if i sent a legitimate DVD to a friend and they got the package opened up, with a note saying that it had to be checked by customs or something.

this is stupid, but what else going on in the world isnt completely stupid.

also, i like your sig DigitalDuality

[Omnios]

What the hell is up with this man its starting to look realy scarry like those movies back in the 70's and 80's. REALY SPOOKY! Like dvd sniffer dogs, lets see it is not april fools so these guys must be on crack Im having a real hard time believing this because it is so F.....n stupid! Now you know yout tax dollars are going to pay for dvd sniffing dogs.

[MetalMusicAddict]

first off...lol this is stupid and it'll never work.

To begin with, the dogs failed at their duty.

2ndly, you can't tell me a burned dvd of legal material is somehow different than illegal material?

What? we have copyright sniffing dogs fully aware of copyright/patent laws as it applies to each collection of bits and bytes? lol

This just means i'm not using FedEx for this breech of trust. DVD pirates are not like drug dealers for crying out loud.

It said the dogs were good at sniffing out DVDs. Simply that. :) I would see where this might be possiable but I wouldnt be suprised if it were just a ploy.

[ComplexNumber]

2ndly, you can't tell me a burned dvd of legal material is somehow different than illegal material? well, if dogs can sniff out early development of cancer in people, i'm sure that they can sniff out the presence of censorship marks of legality (i can't remember the exact name).

[n3tfury]

i'm going to be in fear of the blu-ray sniffing dog

[RavenOfOdin]

I don't understand this, and I'll tell you all why. . .

First off, I really doubt the dog is sniffing for plastic. Its more than likely a watermark or logo of some kind, much like the holograms and other security measures on money, with an active chemical which the dog can pick up with its nose. Besides, so many things are made of/derived of plastic that I can't list them all in this thread.

That being said, my question is this:

Wouldn't the dog in question actually be sniffing for LEGAL DVD's? After all, the article said that the indicated material was completely legal, not counterfeited or bootlegged. To sniff for ILLEGAL DVD's would be a whole different thing entirely. Does an illegal DVD have a chemical which the DVD somehow knows to send out when its been pirated? I seriously doubt that. If FedEx tried saying that they'd be the laughing stock of the postal business. Not to mention, they'd probably lose a whole load of customers.

And how the heck would they manage to get the dog to sniff for the absence of the chemical? That would be like putting a drug sniffing dog - as another poster brought up the idea of - in a warehouse stocked to the brim with weed. You'd drive the poor thing up a wall.

So I guess now my question becomes, since we're sniffing for nothing and barking on cue, can I teach my husky this trick? When she's not killing squirrels and barking herself hoarse, of course.

[hizaguchi]

The solution? Everybody video yourself taking a crap, burn it to DVD, label it with the name of a popular movie, and Fed Ex it to Hong Kong. :D In about a week, the MPAA will be so tired of seeing computer geek booty that they'll give up on this insanity.

[ComplexNumber]

Wouldn't the dog in question actually be sniffing for LEGAL DVD's? thats the only way that it can be done. whilst illegal dvd's are not likely to be guaranteed to have something in common, legal dvd's are. it would be quite easy for the dogs to sniff out the illegal ones by a process of elimination (ie the dogs wouldn't pick up the 'legal' scent in illegal dvd's that have a mark of some description).

[hizaguchi]

thats the only way that it can be done. whilst illegal dvd's are not likely to be guaranteed to have something in common, legal dvd's are. it would be quite easy for the dogs to sniff out the illegal ones by a process of elimination (ie the dogs wouldn't pick up the 'legal' scent in illegal dvd's that have a mark of some description).
But the problem is that "legal" and "illegal" do not have any scent. Without actually opening the box and playing the disk, nobody can tell the difference between a pirated movie and a home video. And the MPAA has no more right to watch my movies without permission than I have to watch their movies without permission. If it is OK for them to watch my movies to make sure they don't belong to them, then I should be allowed to download their movies and watch them to make sure they aren't my home videos.

[Dr. Nick]

thats the only way that it can be done. whilst illegal dvd's are not likely to be guaranteed to have something in common, legal dvd's are. it would be quite easy for the dogs to sniff out the illegal ones by a process of elimination (ie the dogs wouldn't pick up the 'legal' scent in illegal dvd's that have a mark of some description).
True, but the question is this. How do they even know it contains a DVD to start with? They going to sniff every package, and inspect those wthout a legal dvd in them? lol

But the problem is that "legal" and "illegal" do not have any scent. Without actually opening the box and playing the disk, nobody can tell the difference between a pirated movie and a home video. And the MPAA has no more right to watch my movies without permission than I have to watch their movies without permission. If it is OK for them to watch my movies to make sure they don't belong to them, then I should be allowed to download their movies and watch them to make sure they aren't my home videos.

Was that your home video I saw that had all those famous actors in it? lol I like your logic :)

[ComplexNumber]

But the problem is that "legal" and "illegal" do not have any scent. Without actually opening the box and playing the disk, nobody can tell the difference between a pirated movie and a home video. i wouldn't be so sure. i've already said that illegal copies aren't likely to have any 'scent'. legal one's are, though. don't forget that the scent of a dog is vastly(maybe thousands of times more sensitive) more sensitive than ours. you probably believe that cancer doesn't have a 'scent'. apparently, it does to a dog.



How do they even know it contains a DVD to start with? i see what you mean - the FedEx people would have to know if there was a dvd there for the dog to then make the distinction. the dogs wouldn't be able to sniff out illegal things, only legal, so they wouldn't know if the lack of legal scent represented the presence of an illegal dvd or no dvd at all.

[briancurtin]

If it is OK for them to watch my movies to make sure they don't belong to them, then I should be allowed to download their movies and watch them to make sure they aren't my home videos.
thats a good way to go about it haha

[benplaut]

isn't it an invasion of privacy for the mpaa/fedex to look at the dvd's contents?

[hizaguchi]

i wouldn't be so sure. i've already said that illegal copies aren't likely to have any 'scent'. legal one's are, though. don't forget that the scent of a dog is vastly(maybe thousands of times more sensitive) more sensitive than ours. you probably believe that cancer doesn't have a 'scent'. apparently, it does to a dog.
So does that mean that I could take two identicle DVDs, burn a copyrighted movie onto one and a home video onto the other, and then a well trained dog could tell which was which? I don't buy that. I don't care how powerful their sense of smell is. If they can sniff out a series of 1s and 0s, determine what video format they represent, mentally translate that code into a movie, and then decide whether or not it is a copyrighted work, then I'm going to expect alot more from my retarded dogs from now on. They can't even tell if the piece of bacon I dropped landed on the table or the floor without sniffing around for 5 minutes.

[BWF89]

No, it said in the article their (allegidly) sniffing out any DVD and taking it out of the packaging to make sure it's legit.

[hizaguchi]

No, it said in the article their (allegidly) sniffing out any DVD and taking it out of the packaging to make sure it's legit.
Right, that's what I was getting at. It's not that they're using dogs to sniff out DVDs, it's that once they find burned DVDs the only way they can tell if they're illegal or not is to take them out and watch them. What gives them this right?

It makes me want to make an ameteur movie, copyright it, and put copies up for sale at $1 million on the internet... then ship some through FedEx to a friend. If they arrive on the other end opened, I could sue FedEx and the MPAA for watching my movie without paying the admission costs. :)

[RavenOfOdin]

So does that mean that I could take two identicle DVDs, burn a copyrighted movie onto one and a home video onto the other, and then a well trained dog could tell which was which? I don't buy that. I don't care how powerful their sense of smell is. If they can sniff out a series of 1s and 0s, determine what video format they represent, mentally translate that code into a movie, and then decide whether or not it is a copyrighted work, then I'm going to expect alot more from my retarded dogs from now on. They can't even tell if the piece of bacon I dropped landed on the table or the floor without sniffing around for 5 minutes.

That's not what he's saying.

In ANY way.

Let's run with this, right, you take a stack of DVD's which you buy (And which are more than likely to not be marked with this seal of legitimacy, which brings up the different possibilities of classing DVD's according to the MPAA and authorities, see below!) and burn a home movie on one and a popular Hollywood movie on the other as you said.

Your DVD stack may even be marked with a "Home Use" seal which pretty much lets Customs know that the movies on them are for home viewing. That would solve your objection, in a way, but I want to expound on the issue just a little.

Since this stack of DVD's that you bought does not have a "Legitimate Copyrighted Movie" seal, and/or has a "Home Use" seal, the copyrighted movie is obviously illegal.

One of two things can happen at this point:

1) You go to the airport and prepare to board a plane for some other country. You go through their security sweeps, and your baggage is checked past the dog if this is a country where bootlegging is a known issue. The dog does not bark and everything is fine. You go on your merry way making a Jesse Jane DVD available to pimply faced teenagers who don't want to pay a dime.

2) You go to the airport and prepare to board a plane for some other country. You go through their security sweeps, and your baggage is checked past the dog as before. The dog barks. The Customs officer commanding the dog gives the order for your baggage to be inspected. He finds two DVD's, your home movie and copyrighted movie. The dog barks at the copyrighted movie but not at the home movie. The officer pops the DVD into a player to see if the dog is on the ball, and what do you know, he gets an eyeful.

Then you, my friend, are screwed blued and tattooed.

This is because the dog differentiated between scents -- where the hypothetical "home use" and "copyrighted movie" active chemical seals come into play! -- That dog does not care about software, media or copyright laws. To the dog, the only thing different about your DVD's are their smell.

The dog can be as dumb as a rock and still have a great nose. Its the Customs officer you need to worry about. The dog isn't doing this all by itself, you know.

Maybe we'll see this sort of marking schema, with different classes made for software, freeware, copyrighted movies and just your everyday "record home movie or your wife having a baby" junk.

Or maybe I'm just putting the cart before the horse.

[Biltong (Dee)]

We are talking FedEx. These guys are so straight they give a ruler a bad name!
We send Zebra skins via them, and I'm telling you now, If we don't go by the book they don't take it - simple as that.
I'm thinking waybill - the thing with the tracking number on it. Watch what you sign and read the small print. Perhaps we are already giving them permission to go through our stuff? Hmm, I must check that out when I get to work.

[ThirdWorld]

Dudes this whole dog sniffing fake DVDs issue feels like one of those crazy 1950's episodes of the Twilight Zone... :mrgreen:



http://www.serialtv.it/storage/telefilm/twilight_zone_the_1959/wallpaper/twilight_zone/twilight_zone_1024x768.jpg


Ubuntu forums, the earth, 2006, Behold the linux creatures, they believed they were smart, that they could burn ilegal dvds as the hot red coal burns in a lonely winter nigth, but they are going to learn that its not that easy anymore, when they enter the customs, ...of the twilight zone... or something like that :D

[nalmeth]

The solution? Everybody video yourself taking a crap, burn it to DVD, label it with the name of a popular movie, and Fed Ex it to Hong Kong. :grin: In about a week, the MPAA will be so tired of seeing computer geek booty that they'll give up on this insanity.
=D>

[Kvark]

So all DVDs are chemically marked depending on if they are legal or not. That is an even more unlikely conspiracy theory then that toothpaste contains drugs to control the people. Does the factory manage to calculate what a DVD will contain in the future and mark it accordingly or does all DVD burners contain a chem-fart unit that marks DVDs according to legality when you put something on them? And if it was true then why aren't illegal DVDs marked with a chem that renders them useless?

Where does that idea come from anyway. The article said that the dogs can't smell the difference between different DVDs. They find all DVDs and then humans have to check if it's legal or not.

Besides, I thought it was illegal to look inside others' mail, at least it is illegal where I live and I assume in all other democracies as well. What kind of watchful dictatorship are we talking about here? China? North Korea? oh... UK, but I thought they where a democracy. :?

[Danni]

We're not a democracy though- we're a constitutional monarchy with elected representation.

[hizaguchi]

Yes! Kvark gets it! There is no way to make a disk burned with "illegal" content smell any different from the same disk burned with "legal" content. The story says this, common sense says this, and several of us here are saying this. If they're finding "illegal" DVDs this way, they're doing it by opening and watching every burned DVD that comes through, which is both an illogical assumption of guilt and an invasion of privacy.

I wanna add something though.

Besides, I thought it was illegal to look inside others' mail, at least it is illegal where I live and I assume in all other democracies as well. What kind of watchful dictatorship are we talking about here? China? North Korea? oh... UK, but I thought they where a democracy. :?
I wouldn't really be happy about the government looking though my mail (like you're hinting at here), but I'm even less happy about this. What we have here is a private group of citizens overstepping their boundaries to the point of invading my privacy further than even the government can, and it is being allowed because they are the wealthy elite and our society values their "right" to protect their profit margins over our Constitutional right to be free of illegal searches and seizures. This is not a dictatorship. This is a plutocracy.

[hizaguchi]

Left computer on the floor to upload post.... dogs proceeded to stand on it. Told you they couldn't sniff out a DVD. :)

[hizaguchi]

blah

[hizaguchi]

:(

[hizaguchi]

sorry :(

[Omnios]

Basicly looks like there checking almost every CD that goes through which is !!!! Illegal to the point of being able to take these guys to coart. Basicly there saying they opened your mail because a cd sniffing dog detected a DVD which is against the law but I find it funny how every one seems to think they can break the law.

[hizaguchi]

I just wonder if there is actually any law that protects us from this kind of thing. It's illegal for anyone to open your mail, but does that inculde packages shipped through FedEx? Since FedEx is a private company, if they want to allow the MPAA to open your packages is there anything that legally prevents them from doing so?

[Iandefor]

We're not a democracy though- we're a constitutional monarchy with elected representation. EDIT: Damn me and my Americo-centrism!

I thought he was talking about the US :oops:.

[catlett]

I didn't read the whole post so excuse me if this has already been said. They are not attempting to distinguish between legal or illegal dvds. They are sniffing out dvds packaged inside other goods. Nothing to do with watermarks, legal scents etc. It is to find Large shipoments of dvds HIDDEN inside other goods. They are not looking for your cd burn of a top 40 album. They are looking for 5000 discs of lord of the rings from china or 25000 copies of Vista from singapore packed in with sneakers from hong kong.
It is the same as sniffing for smuggled drugs. They are looking for something packed inside of something else. To the eye of the custom agent everything is legitimate. The dogs can detect an illegal product inside a shipment of a legitimate product. Instead of sniffing out cocaine hidden inside a legitimate shipment, they are sniffing out DVDs inside of a legitimate shipment.

[zubrug]

Damm, now I have to ship my dvd's hidden in pot](*,)

[ThirdWorld]

I didn't read the whole post so excuse me if this has already been said. They are not attempting to distinguish between legal or illegal dvds. They are sniffing out dvds packaged inside other goods. Nothing to do with watermarks, legal scents etc. It is to find Large shipoments of dvds HIDDEN inside other goods. They are not looking for your cd burn of a top 40 album. They are looking for 5000 discs of lord of the rings from china or 25000 copies of Vista from singapore packed in with sneakers from hong kong.
It is the same as sniffing for smuggled drugs. They are looking for something packed inside of something else. To the eye of the custom agent everything is legitimate. The dogs can detect an illegal product inside a shipment of a legitimate product. Instead of sniffing out cocaine hidden inside a legitimate shipment, they are sniffing out DVDs inside of a legitimate shipment.

That makes sense.... those record companies are very powerful...

[BWF89]

I hope that news story was a joke. I'd be mad as hell if I send one of my relitives a DVD and they recieved it all ripped open.

[hizaguchi]

That reminded me of a similar situation. Kinda off-topic, by my parents went out of the country a while back and when they got to where they were going and opened their bags, they found that the airport security had opened their shampoo and sunblock and left the lids off and had stolen their fake Oakley sunglasses. If you're paying $500 for a plane ticket and can't get any better treatment than that, imagine what kind of shape that packages is going to be in when it gets where it's going.

[MenZa]

/me stuffs DVD with beastiality porn and sends via FedEx--I wouldn't like to be the one to open that.

[Biltong (Dee)]

Hang on a second people - remember we are talking a multi-national courier here. It's not like we're sending a parcel thru the post office.
Hasn't anyone received a FedEx parcel? If you have then you will agree that they have a reputation to protect.
From retrieval to FedEx plane to delivery to your door your parcel is rarely out of their hands, and you cannot receive the parcel without showing some sort of ID.
The only time the parcel is ever out of FedEx hands is at customs. Even then - If there is a hold-up FedEx informs the sender, because they are keenly aware that the parcel can be tracked online, and if you pay for a three day delivery you damn well expect it to be delivered in three days. If it isn't you want to know why not. After all, a courier service is a hell of a lot more expensive than ordinary post.
Now we are talking BAD things - with no proof whatsoever. That is hardly fair to them is it?

The post office on the other hand...That's another story.
Have you ever received parcels all wrapped up in sticky customs parcel tape?
I sure as hell have.

[mips]

The only time the parcel is ever out of FedEx hands is at customs. Even then - If there is a hold-up FedEx informs the sender, because they are keenly aware that the parcel can be tracked online, and if you pay for a three day delivery you damn well expect it to be delivered in three days. If it isn't you want to know why not. After all, a courier service is a hell of a lot more expensive than ordinary post.

This reminds of the time I purchased a camera from buydig in the USA. FedEx was the courier and I could track my parcel through all the us fedex hubs to france and then to south africa. I was amazed at how fast the parcel got from the us to france and france to sa, something stupid like 38 hrs. Once the parcel got to jhb international it lay at customs for 5days !!! Once it cleared customs it took another 4 days (via fedex) to get to me 600km away. Thats when it dawned on me that i really do live in a third world country...

[Biltong (Dee)]

...Thats when it dawned on me that i really do live in a third world country...

I hear you brother.
If it looks interesting you never receive it. Or the person you are send it to never receives it.
I usually put " Lillettes Tampons - Free sample" on the customs declaration. For some odd reason my parcels always reach their destination. :-)

[mips]

EDIT: Damn me and my Americo-centrism!

I thought he was talking about the US :oops:.

Isn't the USA a Constitutional Republic with representative democracy ?

[mips]

I usually put " Lillettes Tampons - Free sample" on the customs declaration. For some odd reason my parcels always reach their destination. :-)

I'll keep that in mind next time I courier a parcel, thks for the tip ;)

[Biltong (Dee)]

Remember to always actually include a packet! If you don't it's mail fraud.
You'll know when the parcel has arrived by the querilous phone call, starting with, "what the hell is this?..." :-)

[Kernel Sanders]

I think this whole thing is a joke..... it MUST be.

At best, dogs can be trained to sniff out DVD's.

So that means every single parcel that the dog has identified as containing a DVD has to be inspected for piracy.

So unless FedEX are planning on hiring thousands more workers to do this, its a stupid joke/idea (If it hasnt already been implimented) or a stupid attempt to scare stupid people.

:p

[jc87]

I´m the only one seing the potencial of this one? Just send a DVD in which you write copyed movie xxx .... which will actually contain a vírus that will remove windows && install Ubuntu:D , and add a side note saying :

By opening this case you accept it as is and agree to my disclaimer of all warranties, express or implied, as well as disclaimers of all liability, direct, indirect, consequential or incidental , that may arise from the reproduction of this media unit on any kind of device .

You also agree to ship the amount of XXX money to the sender of this media as soon as you open the case , not complying with this EULA after you open the case will be considered unfair use and result in a lawsuit.

[jc87]

I´m the only one seing the potencial of this one? Just send a DVD in which you write copyed movie xxx .... which will actually contain a vírus that will remove windows && install Ubuntu:D , and add a side note saying :

By opening this case you accept it as is and agree to my disclaimer of all warranties, express or implied, as well as disclaimers of all liability, direct, indirect, consequential or incidental , that may arise from the reproduction of this media unit on any kind of device .

You also agree to ship the amount of XXX money to the sender of this media as soon as you open the case , not complying with this EULA after you open the case will be considered unfair use and result in a lawsuit.

[Iandefor]

Isn't the USA a Constitutional Republic with representative democracy ? Democratic Republic works too. He said Constitutional Monarchy, though. I was going to correct him... then I noticed he was in England.