I saw a story on the news the other night that I fully expected to see blown up all across the web. Apparently, an officer was driving by a home in a residential part of San Jose and saw what he believed to be a burglary taking place. When he began poking around the property, he stumbled upon a massive DVD copying operation.

Who do you think the officers called? Dispatch for backup? The FBI to investigate any interstate commerce laws that may have been broken?

No, sir. They called the obvious people - the MPAA and the RIAA, who sent out reps wearing the same kind of outfits you expect to see on SWAT team members and federal agents, emblazoned with the initials of their organizations on the back.

So when exactly did these two trade organizations become federal agencies, complete with their own hit squads? And why did the San Jose police call them in directly to peruse the evidence? Isn’t that their job? If indeed a crime were taking place (and, frankly, there’s every indication there was) shouldn;t the officers collect the evidence, arrest the criminals and refer it to the DA, who would then give the MPAA and RIAA access to the evidence?

I foamed at the mouth when I saw this. I consider the whole thing deeply offensive. The MPAA and RIAA have the right to defend the copyrights of their members, no question, but they should not be impersonating federal agents while they do it, nor should the local cops treat them with the same respect.