A dog trained to track down pirate DVDs has been found dead. The cause of death is not yet known.
Police named the disc-sniffing mutt as Manny, one of a pair donated to Malaysian anti-piracy authorities by the Motion Picture Association of America, the New Straits Times reported yesterday.
Manny and companion Paddy arrived in …
Sad news about the mutt, but I'm intrigued: how does a pirate DVD smell different to a legit one? I'm genuinely interested if anyone knows how the dogs can be trained to differentiate.
I expect the MPAss.A found that the dog's dam and sire had made a unauthorised copy of themselves. Imagine their horror when they discovered that if you put two products together, before long they'll create another one - for free! With no regard to the intellectual property rights of their owner or the distorting effect copying themselves could have on the market. Obviously, the unauthorised copy had to be destroyed.
You heard it here first: when MPAss.A executives discover that human beings are capable of this unauthorised reproduction as well, they will lobby to ban sex. And probably win.
Maybe disc manufacturers / DVD-Writer manufacturers have been secretly working together to make drives that detect copywrited material is being recorded and somehow get the disc to smell like pie and chips?
A single DVD may not have a strong scent, but a very large number of them might. And if they're in a place where they aren't officially acknowledged as being - for example a shipping container that doesn't have DVDs on the manifest - then examination is not unreasonable.
They don't need to know if they are legit or not (think BitTorrent ?) if they are being smuggled then they must be illegal by definition, and worth £15.99 per disc...
It doesn't matter whether the disks can be determined to be pirated or legit by smell. If you import thousands of disks for sale you need to pay tax on them. Do you honestly think the pirates put "10,000 DVDs" on their manifest? Really? No, so if your dog sniffs out 10,000 DVDs in a box that says it doesn't have 10,000 DVDs in it then you can bet it's worth a closer gander.
but the similarity, in otherwords, if someone is trying to ship a package marked as "cloth" or "books" yet the dogs can smell DVD's in there, then they will open that package to check what it contains.
note, just my thoughts, don't know in this is how it is done.
I have a pack of blank Dvds opened last month, they still have a strong smell. The manafacturers use different dyes but there must be a common base for them with the cheap discs pirates will use.
Not that they can say it is pirated, but I doubt people smuggle them on a plane. Shipping it in a container makes more sense, and dogs would show up wrongly labeled cargo, or be able to search warehouses for hidden stashes.
The sellers can earn more for their boss than by dealing drugs/running a cannabis farm, and the criminal charges are nothing compared to dealing class A or B. Everyones a winner
It couldn't... A major national newspaper was about to break the story this morning, the dog found out and realising the scandal and damage it would cause to his career took the only way it out it could think of. We only really have the media to blame for this SENSELESS tragedy.
His wife and children have passed on their thanks for support during this tough time.
Maybe they don't smell the difference between pirate and legit?
#
Perhaps either they are just meant to find any hidden stash of media so as to aid other police investigations or the MPAA have decided that from henceforth anyone that owns any disc and does not pay them £36/week for the privilege is in breach of the license under which they temporarily 'possess' the intellectual content that is transiently carried on its surface?
Of course it's not a scare tactic, in the same ways as drug-sniffer dogs at airports, trained to find particular suitcases not drugs, aren't a scare tactic.
FTA: "They were trained to smell chemicals used in the production of CDs and although they could not distinguish genuine CDs from pirated ones, they were to help enforcement teams sniff out hidden discs."
I remember reading somewhere that the chemicals used in Recordable and Rewriteable disks (AKA the kind that the RIAA thinks MUST mean you're a pirate) are different to the disks pressed in a factory.
I'm guessing it was trained to smell for the dyes used in recordable discs, dyes which wouldn't be present in pressed discs. Even I have noticed a curious and distinctive odour when opening a fresh pack of blank discs. It's quite pleasant actually...ooh, look at the colours...of that dancing elk...flurb...
A quick Google turned this up on AssociatedContent.com
"Lucky and Flo's skills are unique: they are the only dogs in the world that can smell DVDs. The smell probably comes from the resins and polycarbonates used in their production and the dogs are determined to find them, wherever they are. They can't tell which are pirated of course, but they can certainly find ones that have been hidden."
So they don't sniff for pirated disks, just help the MPAA find hidden ones. Hell, if PCSOs are involved in the raid, they probably need help to find the ones sitting on the coffee table straight infront of them.
I imagine it will find any DVDs, but the genuine ones are in the boxes labelled DVDs, and the pirate ones are in the boxes labelled Tractor spares or whatever... Its a pretty good bet that any DVDs witghout good documentation are smuggled pirates...
>>I agree, how can they smell the difference between pirate and legit?<<
HMV used to be called 'His Master's Voice' with a logo of a little doggy looking down the tube of a phonograph horn? Now we know what they were training doggy to do.
Disks which are able to be burned use a different set of chemicals then ones that are pressed/stamped. The dogs could detect the chemicals. (Although I seem to recall them not being hugely accurate, but what is a couple of false positives when it comes to the EVILS of burning your own disk.)
Given that persons of the religious persuasion that is dominant in Malaysia have a religious mandate against dogs (try asking a blind person with a guide dog who has attempted to make a taxi journey in some parts of the UK or USA), it is surely not surprising that the dog came to a swift end.
"trained to smell for the dyes used in recordable discs"
#
What about the PROFESSIONAL bootlegs? The ones where the outsourced factory pressing legitimate DVD's run off an extra run at quiet time? The ones sold for profit (because the manufacturing cost of a DVD is about 20p but sell like hotcakes at a 500% markup)?
Well, of course these people have money, so they go after the ones who make up the small fraction of disks copied with consumer grade equipment.
"Police named the disc-sniffing mutt was as Manny"
Me speak not English. Editor (usual) sleepy?
Damn, I gotta check how is my football team's captain doing. His name is Manny, and he's Asian, and he's a mutt, and I haven't heard from him in a while... (I don't know whether he can sniff DVDs though).
but i suppose under some byzantine new law, any Word or Excel or Powerpoint doc that is backed up to CD isn't "mine" either since I don't 'own" the program that wrote it..or the thoughts that went into it since the "words" are owned by some other entity...
Surely the majority of legit discs are stamped and the non legit are burnt (as a rule of thumb)
Or are we talking about sophisticated pirates who u actually have the professional tools to make stamped DVD's rather then buying blank discs and burning them?
Register
Police probe pirate-DVD detecting dog's demise
A dog trained to track down pirate DVDs has been found dead. The cause of death is not yet known. Police named the disc-sniffing mutt as Manny, one of a pair donated to Malaysian anti-piracy authorities by the Motion Picture Association of America, the New Straits Times reported yesterday. Manny and companion Paddy arrived in …
This topic is closed for new posts.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:00 GMT
Mark Sadler
Trained to find Disks !?! #
Only in Ireland.
Paris coz they're as crazy as she is!
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:00 GMT
Senor Beavis
How the...? #
Sad news about the mutt, but I'm intrigued: how does a pirate DVD smell different to a legit one? I'm genuinely interested if anyone knows how the dogs can be trained to differentiate.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:00 GMT
dervheid
O-kay... #
but just WTF do pirate CDs and DVDs SMELL OF?
I'm presuming it's an odour released by one or more of the chemicals used in the disc production, but I could be wrong.
Or are the 'pirates' partial to a particular food/drink/aftershave?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:00 GMT
Mark
Turns up in a chow mein. #
Tasty!
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:00 GMT
Dan
Eh?... Doh! #
How did the MPAA train a dog to detect copyright infringement?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:20 GMT
Spleen
Copying #
I expect the MPAss.A found that the dog's dam and sire had made a unauthorised copy of themselves. Imagine their horror when they discovered that if you put two products together, before long they'll create another one - for free! With no regard to the intellectual property rights of their owner or the distorting effect copying themselves could have on the market. Obviously, the unauthorised copy had to be destroyed.
You heard it here first: when MPAss.A executives discover that human beings are capable of this unauthorised reproduction as well, they will lobby to ban sex. And probably win.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:20 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Dogs trained to find Disks....... #
..........HMRC could have done with borrowing those!!
The one with the puppy sniffing at it in the corner please.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 11:20 GMT
Barn
Really?? #
I agree, how can they smell the difference between pirate and legit?
Or is it all just an MPAss.A scare tactic?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
Anonymous Coward
It's not the DVD's they smell #
It's the stench of grog swilling scurvy riddled pirates they go after. Unless that is the pirates take them for walkies along the plank.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
Luke Wells
what the hell? #
How can a dog smell illegal files/movies/music?
Maybe disc manufacturers / DVD-Writer manufacturers have been secretly working together to make drives that detect copywrited material is being recorded and somehow get the disc to smell like pie and chips?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
Anonymous John
Perhaps #
the dog ate a fake disk.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
Simon Ball
Possible #
A single DVD may not have a strong scent, but a very large number of them might. And if they're in a place where they aren't officially acknowledged as being - for example a shipping container that doesn't have DVDs on the manifest - then examination is not unreasonable.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
Anonymous Coward
@Barn etc. #
They don't need to know if they are legit or not (think BitTorrent ?) if they are being smuggled then they must be illegal by definition, and worth £15.99 per disc...
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
Ross
Re: Smells of piracy #
It doesn't matter whether the disks can be determined to be pirated or legit by smell. If you import thousands of disks for sale you need to pay tax on them. Do you honestly think the pirates put "10,000 DVDs" on their manifest? Really? No, so if your dog sniffs out 10,000 DVDs in a box that says it doesn't have 10,000 DVDs in it then you can bet it's worth a closer gander.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
stranger on the road
it is not the difference is smell #
but the similarity, in otherwords, if someone is trying to ship a package marked as "cloth" or "books" yet the dogs can smell DVD's in there, then they will open that package to check what it contains.
note, just my thoughts, don't know in this is how it is done.
good luck
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:44 GMT
peter
Smell #
I have a pack of blank Dvds opened last month, they still have a strong smell. The manafacturers use different dyes but there must be a common base for them with the cheap discs pirates will use.
Not that they can say it is pirated, but I doubt people smuggle them on a plane. Shipping it in a container makes more sense, and dogs would show up wrongly labeled cargo, or be able to search warehouses for hidden stashes.
The sellers can earn more for their boss than by dealing drugs/running a cannabis farm, and the criminal charges are nothing compared to dealing class A or B. Everyones a winner
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Test Man
They don't... #
... detect pirate discs. They can smell out any kind of discs within packages, which custom investigate to see whether it's legit or not.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
James Greenhalgh
Mass Re: How can it tell... #
It couldn't... A major national newspaper was about to break the story this morning, the dog found out and realising the scandal and damage it would cause to his career took the only way it out it could think of. We only really have the media to blame for this SENSELESS tragedy.
His wife and children have passed on their thanks for support during this tough time.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Thomas
Maybe they don't smell the difference between pirate and legit? #
Perhaps either they are just meant to find any hidden stash of media so as to aid other police investigations or the MPAA have decided that from henceforth anyone that owns any disc and does not pay them £36/week for the privilege is in breach of the license under which they temporarily 'possess' the intellectual content that is transiently carried on its surface?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Scare tactic #
Of course it's not a scare tactic, in the same ways as drug-sniffer dogs at airports, trained to find particular suitcases not drugs, aren't a scare tactic.
Probably.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Eponymous Cowherd
Re:Really #
***"Or is it all just an MPAss.A scare tactic?"***
Bump off a DVD sniffer mutt to make it look like the crooks are worried about them?
Naah, surely not.....
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Rhyd
RTFA #
FTA: "They were trained to smell chemicals used in the production of CDs and although they could not distinguish genuine CDs from pirated ones, they were to help enforcement teams sniff out hidden discs."
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Samuel Walker
Don't quote me on this but #
I remember reading somewhere that the chemicals used in Recordable and Rewriteable disks (AKA the kind that the RIAA thinks MUST mean you're a pirate) are different to the disks pressed in a factory.
I presume they must smell different.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Destroy All Monsters
It's sad. #
The dog clearly had to watch all those DVDs and just died of overload.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Matt
Obviously... #
I'm guessing it was trained to smell for the dyes used in recordable discs, dyes which wouldn't be present in pressed discs. Even I have noticed a curious and distinctive odour when opening a fresh pack of blank discs. It's quite pleasant actually...ooh, look at the colours...of that dancing elk...flurb...
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
John P
Simple. They can't #
A quick Google turned this up on AssociatedContent.com
"Lucky and Flo's skills are unique: they are the only dogs in the world that can smell DVDs. The smell probably comes from the resins and polycarbonates used in their production and the dogs are determined to find them, wherever they are. They can't tell which are pirated of course, but they can certainly find ones that have been hidden."
So they don't sniff for pirated disks, just help the MPAA find hidden ones. Hell, if PCSOs are involved in the raid, they probably need help to find the ones sitting on the coffee table straight infront of them.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
XDDX
Obvious really... #
it was fitted with a Jawbone Bluetooth detection unit...
..mine's the woad coloured anorak
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
JimC
> How it finds Pirate DVDs #
I imagine it will find any DVDs, but the genuine ones are in the boxes labelled DVDs, and the pirate ones are in the boxes labelled Tractor spares or whatever... Its a pretty good bet that any DVDs witghout good documentation are smuggled pirates...
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Giles Jones
Disc smell #
>but just WTF do pirate CDs and DVDs SMELL OF?
Inkjet ink? used on the labels?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Mike Crawshaw
@ Barn "Scare Tactic" #
"Or is it all just an MPAss.A scare tactic?"
If it is, it's worked. My dawggie is terrified of the MPAss.A!!
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Maty
remember...? #
>>I agree, how can they smell the difference between pirate and legit?<<
HMV used to be called 'His Master's Voice' with a logo of a little doggy looking down the tube of a phonograph horn? Now we know what they were training doggy to do.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Hedley Phillips
Burnt or pressed #
Correct me if I am wrong...
but are legit disks pressed and illegal ones are burnt. I imagine the dogs smell the dyes on the burnt ones.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Chris
@Barn #
Disks which are able to be burned use a different set of chemicals then ones that are pressed/stamped. The dogs could detect the chemicals. (Although I seem to recall them not being hugely accurate, but what is a couple of false positives when it comes to the EVILS of burning your own disk.)
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Barry
They detect... #
... the chemicals used to create the discs (the dye on the surface) - although, they cannot tell the difference between illegal and legit.
See: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6454375.stm
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 12:46 GMT
Jeff Deacon
Should have known better #
Given that persons of the religious persuasion that is dominant in Malaysia have a religious mandate against dogs (try asking a blind person with a guide dog who has attempted to make a taxi journey in some parts of the UK or USA), it is surely not surprising that the dog came to a swift end.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 13:57 GMT
Mark
WTF do pirate CDs and DVDs SMELL OF? #
Rum, me hearties!
Yo ho ho!
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 13:57 GMT
Mark
"trained to smell for the dyes used in recordable discs" #
What about the PROFESSIONAL bootlegs? The ones where the outsourced factory pressing legitimate DVD's run off an extra run at quiet time? The ones sold for profit (because the manufacturing cost of a DVD is about 20p but sell like hotcakes at a 500% markup)?
Well, of course these people have money, so they go after the ones who make up the small fraction of disks copied with consumer grade equipment.
(the norwegian blue is pushing up dasies)
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 19:32 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! #
Would you like rice with that?
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 19:32 GMT
MS
Must have been suicide. #
The dog was probably took its own life after being mercilessly humiliated by his drug sniffing coworkers.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 19:32 GMT
Adam Williamson
@Mark #
Yeah...chow mein...that famous Malaysian dish.
Tosser.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 19:32 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Obviously #
He hit a large stash of Will Ferrell movies. Poor pooch.
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 19:32 GMT
J
Wo? #
"Police named the disc-sniffing mutt was as Manny"
Me speak not English. Editor (usual) sleepy?
Damn, I gotta check how is my football team's captain doing. His name is Manny, and he's Asian, and he's a mutt, and I haven't heard from him in a while... (I don't know whether he can sniff DVDs though).
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 19:32 GMT
StopthePropaganda
hand over the backups and no one gets hurt! #
but i suppose under some byzantine new law, any Word or Excel or Powerpoint doc that is backed up to CD isn't "mine" either since I don't 'own" the program that wrote it..or the thoughts that went into it since the "words" are owned by some other entity...
Posted Monday 9th June 2008 20:57 GMT
Anonymous Coward
Maybe... #
...the pirates have a dog that can sniff out dogs that can sniff out pirated CDs?
Posted Wednesday 11th June 2008 10:27 GMT
Daniel
the difference... #
Surely the majority of legit discs are stamped and the non legit are burnt (as a rule of thumb)
Or are we talking about sophisticated pirates who u actually have the professional tools to make stamped DVD's rather then buying blank discs and burning them?
This topic is closed for new posts.