RUMOR MILL
Monday, September 11, 2000
NYPD BUSTS BOOTLEG
CD DISTRIBUTORS
Turns Out Old-School Copyright Infringement Is Still Frowned Upon
With all the hubbub surrounding Napster and MP3.com, real-world bootleggers might've thought their business was safe. Not so.
New York police are on the rampage to shut down music and video counterfeiting, possibly fueled by the increasing number of Bruce Springsteen's "41 Shots" CDs on the streets.
Last week, police raided two major CD counterfeiting operations, and along with the help of the anti-piracy unit of the Recording Industry Association of America, made 15 felony arrests and seized almost 60,000 allegedly copied recordings, including titles of Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Ricky Martin.
Authorities believe music and videotape knock-offs are becoming more and more common because the recording technology, particularly CD-recording, has become easily available. The 15 suspects could each get up to seven years in prison.
