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PIRATED MOVIES, ILLEGAL GUNS, FOOD DRIVE, SUPPORTING THE TROOPS
FOOD
DRIVE FOR DV VICTIMS/DONATION DRIVE FOR TROOPS
It is a
great feeling to be able to provide for people who are in need. On
November 23, my office accepted food donations from the Whitfield School
in East New York, and its CEO A.B. Whitfield, for the Brooklyn Family
Justice Center. The food was stored in a pantry in the Justice Center
and distributed over the holidays to domestic violence victims. We
have been fortunate to receive food, clothes and toy donations in the
past from other schools and community organizations, especially around
the holidays. It is encouraging to see members of the community lending
a hand to help those who are less fortunate. Domestic Violence victims
have suffered physically and emotionally. My office helps them with
various services including counseling and housing assistance, but to be
able to provide them with food and clothes, goes above and beyond. It
shows compassion and selflessness, and it requires a collaborative
effort from people throughout the community.
My office does as much as it can do help crime victims
cope and try to move on with their lives. But our support is not
limited to victims whose cases we prosecute. We are very supportive of
our troops and appreciative of their efforts to protect us and make our
country safe. This month, my office had a donation drive to support the
troops called “Operation Fun for the Troops.” Employees from my office
donated books, magazines, games, movies, music, and cards to be shipped
to troops serving at Camp Black Horse, Camp Eggers and Bagram Air Base,
in Afghanistan, and Camp Victory in Iraq. The drive was organized by
U.S. Army Reservist and Assistant District Attorney Jose Nieves from my
Trial Bureau Green Zone. Some of our other employees, Mary
Demarco-Keating, paralegal Brenda Campbell and Assistant District
Attorney Vivian R. Cedeno, played an instrumental role in making the
drive a tremendous success. In addition, I accepted a Patriotic
Employer Award from ADA Nieves, recognizing my support for National
Guard and Reserve soldiers serving overseas.
PIRATED
MOVIES
Many of us like to unwind after a long day
at work by watching a movie on our couch. We go to our local video
store or a shop that sells DVDs, and pick out those films that we’ve
been looking forward to seeing. What many people don’t realize is that
some of these videos are illegal, pirated movies, and when we buy these
films, we are taking money away from the city and the people who are
responsible for making these films.
Scammers will try to sell illegal videos before they are officially
released or they will sell popular movies, in the form of pirated DVDs,
for discounted prices, taking business away from legitimate retailers.
There are also many Internet sites that distribute films illegally.
This theft deprives the city and state of New York of millions of
dollars in sales tax revenue at a time when we need it most, and it
takes money away from the production companies and actors who made these
films. The villains in this drama are the shop owners who peddle pirated
DVDs, a crime that is tantamount to outright theft. In addition, in
some cases, the video may not be of high quality and there have even
been cases where there has been no DVD in the case at all. So, we are
all getting ripped off.
I
recently announced an investigation by my office into thousands of
pirated Nigerian movies being sold in Brooklyn stores. My office raided
nine stores and seized more than 10,000 illegally copied DVDs. The
investigation was initiated after members of the Nigerian Film industry
came forward and made us aware of the problem. Known as “Nollywood”,
Nigeria has the second largest film industry in the world after India in
terms of the volume of films produced. Besides the 10,300 counterfeit
DVDs that were recovered, we also seized five multi-slot, high-volume
disc duplicators, hundreds of blank DVDs, disc cases and sleeves, and
pre-printed media covers. Detective Investigators also recovered laptop
computers, business records, checkbooks and bank records, from the
various businesses.
The
investigation will continue, until it is determined who owns each of the
businesses and who reproduced and distributed the recordings. Those
responsible could face charges including Trademark Counterfeiting and
Forgery and could receive sentences of up to seven years in prison.
The
movie industry, here in the U.S. and abroad, has been vigorously
fighting DVD and Internet piracy for years. We must crack down on
illegal DVD stores and factories and also toughen laws on Internet
file-sharing. Every year, America’s movie industry loses billions of
dollars in revenue because of unauthorized copying and distribution of
copyrighted material. And not only are the wealthy copyright owners
affected by this criminal activity but the motion picture industry
employs approximately 750,000 Americans whose incomes depend upon the
revenues derived from lawful distribution of the movies they make. As
revenues shrink, so do their chances of making a better living. It
impedes the creation of thousands of jobs and accounts for hundreds of
millions of dollars in lost tax revenue.
When
buying motion picture DVD’s, consumers should be on the lookout for
discs that might be counterfeit. If the movie has yet to be or was just
released in theatres; if the price is extremely low; if the packaging
and print work are of poor quality; if there is no original artwork; or
if the logos of the studio, publisher and distributor are missing, the
disc is probably not genuine.
If you have any information about trademark
counterfeiting or would like to speak with someone from my office about
the practice, please contact my Neighborhood Office hotline at
(718)250-2555 or visit the Neighborhood Office nearest to you.
ILLEGAL
GUNS
Illegal
guns on our streets are one of the biggest causes of many of the crimes
that we prosecute in my office. There are numerous pieces of
legislation being proposed on gun control. But the truth is that
sometimes it can be very easy for people to get their hands on a gun.
So, how do we solve this problem? I have organized numerous gun
buybacks in the past which were a huge success. But there are gun
dealers who will never give up their weapons because it’s the source of
their income. It makes our job that much more difficult because we have
to locate these dealers and catch them in the act so we can put them in
prison.
Nearly
every other day, someone is shot and killed in Brooklyn with an illegal
gun. The havoc created and the lives lost because of senseless gun
violence in our communities are destructive to us all. All too often we
hear tragic stories about a young person whose life was cut short or who
was seriously injured because a coward chose to settle an argument or a
perceived slight with a gun.
It
seems like every time my office announces a major gun takedown, the guns
came from out of state. I recently announced the indictment of a
25-year-old Brooklyn native who moved to North Carolina. He was making
large purchases of guns in North Carolina and running them to Brooklyn.
This individual was a Bloods gang member and he was selling many of
these guns to fellow gang members. My office, working with the NYPD,
initiated an investigation where undercover cops made buys from this
defendant. As part of the year-long investigation, dubbed “Operation
Tarheel”, between July 2009 and June 2010, undercover officers made six
buys from the defendant including one buy in June in which seven guns
were purchased at one time.
My
office was tipped off that someone was selling guns in East New York.
The defendant received orders via text message to his cell phone and
when he believed that he had enough orders, he would make a large
purchase and deliver the guns to Brooklyn for sale. In order to keep
police off his tail, he changed his cell phone number every so often and
sometimes used fake names.
I
commend the undercover officers who risked their lives in this situation
to take a dangerous individual and guns off the streets. |
