New MPAA Pirate-Sniffing Canines, All the Way from Ireland

Written by enigmax on December 19, 2007 

Lucky & Flo, the dogs employed by the MPAA to hunt down pirate media have returned home. But before media pirates start celebrating, beware: there are two new pirate-chasing canines on the block. The authorities say “Good Boy!” to their latest recruits – Paddy and Manny, all the way from Ireland.

Dogs Nose

There have been many attempts at ending the flow of pirate media around the world but the introduction of sniffer dogs must rank up there with some of the most novel. Back in September 2006 the MPAA introduced a pair of black Labrador dogs, trained to sniff out pirate media. In fact the dogs were trained to recognize the aroma of polycarbonate – the material from which DVDs are made.

At the time, Dan Glickman, CEO of the MPAA explained: “Lucky and Flo have helped us prove that if we think outside of the box, we can find new and interesting ways to assist law enforcement and Customs officials around the world to stop illegal shipments of counterfeit DVDs from making their way across borders”

Indeed, Lucky and Flo enjoyed a great success(pdf) in March 2007 when they led authorities to seize 1,000,000 pirate DVDs, as part of ‘Operation Double Trouble’. It wasn’t long before there were reports that the syndicate whose DVD’s were seized weren’t happy – and they put a bounty on the heads of the black Labradors.

As the pair head home to the US, according to reports they are to be replaced by a fresh duo. Paddy and Manny are a pair of male Labradors from Ireland. One white, one black, they’re being trained by the same people who taught Lucky and Flo and should arrive for duty in Malaysia around February 2008

“Their training is almost completed,” said Nor Hayati Yahaya, a Malaysian representative of the Motion Picture Association. “Malaysia will be the first to have its own canine unit for sniffing optical discs” he added.

Just like their predecessors, Paddy and Manny are trained to detect polycarbonate from which DVDs are made. They are not able to tell the difference between pirate and legal discs but as pirate discs are often hidden in areas which are documented as containing other materials, the dogs are able to sniff out the rogue items.

Malaysia has quite a bad record for piracy and these DVD sniffing dogs have provided them with a couple of headline grabbing hauls which generate some much needed publicity for the authorities, desperate to be seen to be taking action against pirates. The MPA’s Nor Hayati claims that the use of these dogs by Malaysia shows a “huge difference in terms of attitude, commitment.”

Others might say it’s 10% effort with the dogs, and 90% commitment on the publicity drive. Image, they say, is everything.

Previously: TorrentSpy Loses Case Against MPAA

Next: Most Popular DVDrips on BitTorrent (wk50)

46 Responses

1 Dec 19, 2007 at 12:00 by random

poor dogs

2 Dec 19, 2007 at 12:29 by me

@1 Agreed.

3 Dec 19, 2007 at 12:36 by KungfuTornado

WT ? checks calender ? It’s not April 01 ?

Bastards are exploiting animals now.

4 Dec 19, 2007 at 12:50 by b

That’s cute. I like dogs. This is probably a PR attempt to get me to associate my warm fuzzy feelings towards dogs with the MPAA, too. It hasn’t worked, but I still like dogs.

5 Dec 19, 2007 at 12:53 by me

Yah, or perhaps they are just trying to stop the large distributors of pirate DVDs that make millions upon millions.

But of course, they’re not doing anything wrong. Sharing is good. Hahaha

6 Dec 19, 2007 at 13:42 by MrJack

Whats with the “Recent Searches” part of your site at the bottom of the page always saying ‘under age porn’ or ‘kiddie porn’ or something similar…?

7 Dec 19, 2007 at 13:49 by Zera

gay.

8 Dec 19, 2007 at 14:00 by Superdan

Lol, stupid ^^

9 Dec 19, 2007 at 14:17 by Anonymous

poor dogs, but can’t they just drench the dvds in perfume?

10 Dec 19, 2007 at 14:49 by die?

im sure they will be sniffing each others butts before long…

or the butts of the mutts at the MPAA ;)

11 Dec 19, 2007 at 14:54 by Bunny

those two boys are in for the time of their lives in Malaysia … if the locals dont eat them

12 Dec 19, 2007 at 15:11 by Vincent Price

Just stupid.

13 Dec 19, 2007 at 15:19 by WHat has this article to do with REAL P2P sharing?!

I have been sharing P2P since the beginning. True P2P are people coming together harmoniously to share data, ALL unhampered exibiting goodwill and understanding toward one another. At its best its groovy!

This article refers to two dogs that sniff out ‘criminals’ that mass produce software, movies and games for large scale profit. These kind of people give P2P a bad name becuase they are filth and scum.

The real P2P had nothing to do with that baby! I can choose to share my files with whomever I please and exchange with whoever I want on a fair basis.

14 Dec 19, 2007 at 15:51 by Wade

@ the dude above me. Yes, this article may not have to do with sharing. But it has to do with what the MPAA is up to, and since they infringe upon our sharing, anything about them is considered P2P news.

Yes, these people are criminals, and selling the DVD’s is not like sharing them, but still this is somewhat P2P news.

15 Dec 19, 2007 at 16:02 by Monster_mack

“to stop illegal shipments of counterfeit DVDs from making their way across borders”"

- This is really fucking dumb. Who the fuck would risk taking dvds across the border, when thanks to the internet u can get the copy over much much easier. I think these mpaas fucks are after the wrong types haha! Idiots on both sides haha!

Hey, you think mpaa would fun genetic research that would allow dogs to sniff internet cables and track which ones tranfer counterfeit data?

16 Dec 19, 2007 at 16:16 by ViRAL

This… is… fucking retarded in so many ways. It just proves that the MPAA is again hunting the wrong enemy.

So i say, good luck catching the wrong target!

17 Dec 19, 2007 at 16:55 by a big fan of TORRENT FREAK

There is a big different between sharing for pleasure and make huge profits selling that sharing. Where I live even the law enforcement buy illegal material in the streets. But, this is in my country.

Let’s practice math here. Between 8:00 A.M. and 6:00 P.M. I found more than 20 guys walking in the streets. Each one have to carry a bag with more than 200 disc (including movies and music). They earn life selling this material (most of this guys are really poor). So they have to go out and sell the hold bag. Each movie disc cost 3.00 (US) and the music disc cost 2.00 (US). I’m not going to lie, but they sell more movies than music disc. So, use your pencil and do the math with this number. I know that numbers are more, but let me do it for you.

- 24 (days p/m) X 12 (months) = 288 (days p/y).
- 288 (days) X 100 (DVD’s) = 28,800 (DVD’s per year)
- 288 (days) X 100 (CD’s) = 28,800 (CD’s per year)
- 28,800 (DVD’s) X 3 (USD) = 86,400 (USD per year)
- 28,800 (CD’S) X 2 (USD) = 57,600 (USD per year)
- 86,400 (USD) + 57,600 (USD) = 144,000 (USD per year)
- 144,000 (USD p/y) X 20 (guys) = 2,880,000 (USD per year)

So do you understand why this guys from MPAA are doing what they can. They are loosing money, because they are people that don’t understand the word SHARE with friends. I started to share my files with IRC (more than a decade ago), but I never sell this stuff. I just used for myself.

That’s why there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between share and make profits from this share.

AND for TORRENT FREAKS thx for you tutorial “HOW TO INCREASE 500% TORRENTS” :p.

18 Dec 19, 2007 at 19:16 by James Bone 007

LoL
I hate dogs i don’t know why !
sometime i kill dog for FUN :)

Killing dog for FUN makes me too happy !

I wish oneday i try to kill a MPAA not a dog :)

Then i will see how i’ll feel :) LoL

19 Dec 19, 2007 at 20:27 by jack 42

y kill the dogs they did not do anything…. now the trainers on the other hand

20 Dec 19, 2007 at 20:34 by Humane Society

[quote comment="243098"]LoL
I hate dogs i don’t know why !
sometime i kill dog for FUN :)

Killing dog for FUN makes me too happy !

I wish oneday i try to kill a MPAA not a dog :)

Then i will see how i’ll feel :) LoL[/quote]

I can’t comment on this becuase I have to and throw up….! What a twisted world…..

21 Dec 19, 2007 at 21:48 by Alex Jones

[quote comment="242916"]Whats with the “Recent Searches” part of your site at the bottom of the page always saying ‘under age porn’ or ‘kiddie porn’ or something similar…?[/quote]

It’s probably the RIAA/MPAA/COINTELPRO Agents typing kiddie porn because who would really search that on here, really It sounds like they are conspiring to make P2P look like peer-2-porn to block underage downloaders and arrest file-sharers under false child porn charges. Hey sex offenders have to be isolated from society to protect children, but what if many warez distros have children, if they don’t wanna lose their and they don’t become sex offenders, they stop sharing pirate content.

Hey if they can make P2P Networks look like underground child porn markets they can shut down Bittorrent/Limewire/Every P2P around.

This is all a farse trap to shut down P2P and all piracy.

22 Dec 19, 2007 at 21:51 by Rycon

Stop calling them pirates! THERE NOT PIRATES! There fucking criminal thieves that make us look fucking bad..

Fucking asshole cock sucking bitch ass mother fuckers.. fuck this selling shit, its wrong. I hope every one of those pieces of shit get a black cock rammed up there asshole for the rest of there miserable pathetic lives.

You cannot justify pirating when you turn right around and sell the shit, you didn’t make it, therefore you dont sell it. Go masturbate with razorblades while watching 2girls1cup.

23 Dec 19, 2007 at 21:57 by Desctruction of

So.. ?? Does that mean I can start trafficing in heroin now without much concern ?

24 Dec 19, 2007 at 21:59 by AJ Supportrer

[quote comment="242916"]Whats with the “Recent Searches” part of your site at the bottom of the page always saying ‘under age porn’ or ‘kiddie porn’ or something similar…?[/quote]

It’s probably the RIAA/MPAA/COINTELPRO Agents typing kiddie porn because who would really search that on here, really It sounds like they are conspiring to make P2P look like peer-2-porn to block underage downloaders and arrest file-sharers under false child porn charges. Hey sex offenders have to be isolated from society to protect children, but what if many warez distros have children, if they don’t wanna lose their and they don’t become sex offenders, they stop sharing pirate content.

Hey if they can make P2P Networks look like underground child porn markets they can shut down Bittorrent/Limewire/Every P2P around.

This is all a farse trap to shut down P2P and all piracy.

25 Dec 19, 2007 at 21:59 by AJ Supportrer

Why does my comment have to be moderated, I’m not posting spam

26 Dec 19, 2007 at 22:09 by Gandhi Listener

[quote]LoL
I hate dogs i don’t know why !
sometime i kill dog for FUN :)

Killing dog for FUN makes me too happy !

I wish oneday i try to kill a MPAA not a dog :)

Then i will see how i’ll feel :) LoL[/quote]

So people wanna murder dogs now just to stop the MPAA.

Wow, that would be aweful, as much I hate Bush, hate the MPAA, and hate the anti-piracy organizations, I would never kill anymore, because would killing honor file-sharers, No it would make us look like a bunch of revolutionists.

Also I would hate “filesharers are raping murderers” to get all over the headlines and history books.

If we really want P2P sharing to be Legal, we need to prove our point like Gandhi did, strikes, hunger strikes, let the police arrest every file-sharer because it costs them money on their part, and if everyones in prison, no ones gonna pay taxes, so it would ruin the government and create military destruction.

So let the police arrest every filesharer because it would ruin the government and they will be forced to make file-sharing legal and Free the file-sharing prisoners.

Watch a movie about Gandhi if you wanna know how to fight BS laws.

27 Dec 19, 2007 at 22:10 by Gandhi Listener

I meant I would never kill anyone, not anymore.

Oops typo lol

28 Dec 19, 2007 at 23:31 by Thingy

“They are not able to tell the difference between pirate and legal discs”

So I’m guessing they are training them to sniff out large quantities of discs… pity if you have a large legal collection of movies.

MPAA – Not getting smarter at all.

29 Dec 20, 2007 at 00:28 by Anonymous

Roar, a bounty on the head of the dogs. Too funny.

30 Dec 20, 2007 at 00:45 by AGNOSTIC WARRIORS

That’s classified as ‘animal cruelty’

Besides, wouldn’t work for me. I have 2,500+ LEGAL movies. I’m willing to be that the dogs are not trained to tell the difference between BURNED and ORIGINAL discs.

Just another scare tactic is all…

31 Dec 20, 2007 at 00:49 by Anonymous

[quote comment="243098"]LoL
I hate dogs i don’t know why !
sometime i kill dog for FUN :)

Killing dog for FUN makes me too happy !

I wish oneday i try to kill a MPAA not a dog :)

Then i will see how i’ll feel :) LoL[/quote]
sick fuck….kill yourself instead

32 Dec 20, 2007 at 00:58 by Dave

[quote comment="242999"]This… is… fucking retarded in so many ways. It just proves that the MPAA is again hunting the wrong enemy.

So i say, good luck catching the wrong target![/quote]

Right! It’s just weird. This so beyond…the boundary of how time and money should be spent.

33 Dec 20, 2007 at 01:10 by anon

Thats gay. they spend all the money to fight piracy but they could spend it on so much more.

34 Dec 20, 2007 at 01:38 by Free Pirate Alliance

I had a dream about these new dogs, they got sent to maylasia. they caught some weird mutant virus and turned on their masters, then they kept going infecting more dogs and killing more people, then bush sent a nuke over their to stop them but he missed and hit germany, so he sent another and hit russia, so russia sent up all theirs over to the U.S. and then bush said WTF and sent up more but they blew up in thier silos, and then all was good.
and the world came together as one
and we explored space in peace and harmony.

What a joke. great waste of money
instead of training dogs to sniff shit out, why not open the box yourself you idiots

35 Dec 20, 2007 at 01:50 by James Bone 007

[quote comment="243309"]I had a dream about these new dogs, they got sent to maylasia. they caught some weird mutant virus and turned on their masters, then they kept going infecting more dogs and killing more people, then bush sent a nuke over their to stop them but he missed and hit germany, so he sent another and hit russia, so russia sent up all theirs over to the U.S. and then bush said WTF and sent up more but they blew up in thier silos, and then all was good.
and the world came together as one
and we explored space in peace and harmony.

What a joke.

great waste of money
instead of training dogs to sniff shit out, why not open the box yourself you idiots[/quote]

hahahahhaha
I can’t stop laughing, yeah
Stupids can’t open the box and check it!
really fuckin stupids!

it’s very easy to recognize Burned or real DVD-R movie :)

somebody tell those stupids to stop wasting $, better give to dogs charity and help ill dogs LoL

36 Dec 20, 2007 at 01:57 by the main ingredient

i want a trained lab that can find polycarbonate. that would be sweet! not sure what i would do with the poor bugger. but i’de love him and take care of him. spoil him senseless.

yay!

37 Dec 20, 2007 at 03:45 by hohoo

“poor dogs, but can’t they just drench the dvds in perfume?”

Not really, dogs can sniff around smells, think of a cake,
we smell cake, they smell ingredients.
Dogs have the best nose in the world.

And anyway, the dogs get a treat everytime they smell something, so good dogs.
And PEople that sell pirate media deserve prison.
SHARE not SELL!

38 Dec 20, 2007 at 04:16 by amazing dvd pirate

hey i really work for the mpaa!! let me show you some figures on how piracy hurts my paycheck! haha youll never know i’m really a 59 year old man!

39 Dec 20, 2007 at 05:15 by CaptainHack

This is about as stupid as using labs rather than beagles to sniff airport bags. I guess they are hoping that they can get the backing of animal rights orgs and breeders by doing this. Just another method of spending their billions of dollars and showing off their ignorance. I hate people who sell movies illegally. However, I invite all my torrent buds to my computer to watch some great movies this holiday season and beyond.

40 Dec 20, 2007 at 08:23 by KungfuTornado

[quote comment="242916"]Whats with the “Recent Searches” part of your site at the bottom of the page always saying ‘under age porn’ or ‘kiddie porn’ or something similar…?[/quote]

I’ve noticed that too thinking it’s just the Anti-Piracy lobby trying to give P2P a bad name, and what other guaranteed way to get attention than this.

I say, TF should log all IP’s searching this and report to the police. Then asking how their investigations are going in a weeks time. Then again in two weeks time, then if nothing, plaster it all over the web anonymously.

41 Dec 20, 2007 at 13:09 by Anonymous

smelly dogs, what are they feeding you?

42 Dec 20, 2007 at 15:30 by oneplusone

Considering I don’t dabble in physical pirated dvds, this is a non-started for me.

However: How much cancer can an MPAA dog sniff if an MPAA dog could sniff fakes?

43 Dec 20, 2007 at 15:42 by oneplusone

Considering I don’t dabble in physical pirated dvds, this is a non-started for me.

However: How much cancer can an MPAA dog sniff if an MPAA dog could sniff fakes?[quote comment="242946"]poor dogs, but can’t they just drench the dvds in perfume?[/quote]

Well you wouldn’t need many dogs, just search for the shipping crates that smell like Hai Karate!

44 Dec 22, 2007 at 03:39 by Squeak

Pen drives. Don’t sell. Electronic transfer. Duh.

45 Dec 23, 2007 at 07:39 by Anonymous

Its Malaysia, just add a durian and see everyone at the customs scramble.

46 Dec 23, 2007 at 08:34 by Shodu

So THAT’s where the tax dollars are going…training dogs to find pirated cd’s….uh huh….riight….that’s in the same category of those rats being trained to find people in rubble…or those dolphins being trained to find bombs.

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