RIAA Anti-Piracy Seizure Information
Florida | Illinois | New York | Dominican Republic
Florida
On Thursday, June 24, 2004, the City of Miami police, with assistance from the RIAA, seized 4,873 pirate/counterfeit music CD-Rs from a vendor/manufacturer in Miami, Florida. The following items were also seized: 15 CD-R burners @ 52-speed, 9 DVD burners, 500 blank CD-Rs, and 1,000 envelopes/inserts. The subject was arrested and charged with violating Florida’s True Name and Address Statute. Approximately 75% of the product consisted of Urban repertoire while 25% was Latin.
Illinois
On June 26, 2004, Investigative Consultants conducted voluntary surrenders on five Chicago street vendors. Over 1,000 Latin piratical CD-Rs were surrendered.
On June 26, 2004, RIAA representatives went to the Swap O Rama (Melrose Park location) to conduct Voluntary Surrenders. One vendor surrendered 300 piratical Latin music CD-Rs. A second vendor surrendered 296 piratical Latin music CD-Rs. Both individuals were given C&Ds.
New York
On Tuesday, June 29, 2004, the New York Police Department’s Manhattan North Task Force, assisted by the RIAA, executed a search warrant at 567 West 125th Street. One person was arrested and charged with Failure to disclose the origin of a record. This police action resulted in the seizure of 14,800 pirate music CD-Rs and 200 music DVDs. The genre was 90% R&B/Hip-Hop and 10% Latin. The following is a list of artists whose works were pirated: Usher, Kanye West, Method Man, Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, Janet Jacks on, G-Unit, Victor Manuelle and Tego Calderon.
On Friday, June 18, 2004, the New York Police Department’s 33rd Precinct, assisted by the RIAA, executed a search warrant at 205 Audobon Avenue in Upper Manhattan. The location was a residential apartment complex, whose resident was using as a point of distribution for illicit music and movies. The police action resulted in one arrest and the seizure of 7,100 Latin music counterfeit/pirated CD-Rs and 500 MPAA counterfeit DVDs. The seized music was 100% of the Latin music genre. The following is a list of artists/trademarks seized: Marc Anthony/Sony Discos, Jennifer Pena/Univision, Obie Bermundez/EMI Latin, Los Toros Band/Universal Latino.
Dominican Republic
On June 18, 2004, the Dominican Republic National Police, assisted by ADOPROFONO (a task force organized by the RIAA), raided an illicit CD-R manufacturing plant in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. The seizure consisted of 34,523 counterfeit CD-R’s, 6080 counterfeit cassettes, 20,000 counterfeit inserts, 4 computers, 8 burners @ 52X speed, a scanner, 2 photocopy machines and 3 professional shrink wrap machines. One individual was arrested during this operation. The genre of music seized was 100% Latin, including such artists as Luis Miguel, Mana, Shakira, and Enrique Iglesias, among others.