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)

50 Responses

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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

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