Truth Seizes Headlines Back From The MPAA!

By now it should be no surprise that the MPAA likes to overhype lots of things, from the "losses" due to file sharing to the "risk" posed by the VCR ("the Boston Strangler" to the movie industry). The current bosses are no exception, from blaming technology to dire warnings about the end of content, it pays to take most of what they say with an extra big grain of salt. Hopefully, you had that salt handy as you read an announcement trumpeted by the MPAA about how they, along with a "California High Tech Task Force" shut down a Southern California DVD processing plant seizing $30 million worth of DVDs. The implication, though not stated in the article, was that the plant was used to copy DVDs illegally. Perhaps the reason it wasn't stated was because it might not actually be true.

Constitutional Code points to the processing plant company's angry response to the news today, suggesting that almost nothing in the MPAA's announcement was accurate. First off, the company claims they only copy legal DVDs, and are a well established (over 15 years in business) legal DVD and CD reproduction plant. Second, neither the MPAA nor the so-called High Tech Task Force "shut the plant down." After the raid was completed the plant was allowed to return to full production levels immediately. The Task Force did take some DVDs, but the plant believes they were perfectly legitimate DVDs being produced by a well-known public company. Finally, in the MPAA's favorite area, it looks like they completely inflated by ridiculous amounts the "value" of the seized materials. The plant claims that the DVDs taken were worth a grand total of $10,540. The DVD copying equipment seized was worth about $15,000. In other words, the claim of $30 million worth of product seized was exaggerated by a mere 2,000%.