Local Authorities Conspiracy to Commit Extortion

And again, dirty cops, conspiracy to commit extortion of now, an innocent trader. You may think this is a one off thing. No it isn't.

Our authorities have been involved in a whole host of crimes against citizens. I am sure that the reported story below on the 10th May 07 is one of many unreported cases. This is certainly more than just a bribe or one may say, extortion of RM50-100 for traffic offences.

What I hear from some very reliable sources, as well as the victims themselves is that the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, as well as the Enforcement Officers of City Hall or DBKL have been conspiring and extorting money from the DVD peddlers who are selling pirated DVDs.

Apparently, the proceeds from the raids, meaning the DVDs that are consfiscated in the tenths of thousands are subsequently resold to the peddlers and syndicates whom they were originally consfiscated from at a price of a few thousand Ringgit for a batch of discs. Obviously this isn't something that is sanctioned by the government, but it is obvious that this goes high enough whereby the entire department can turn a blind eye, auditors and gatekeepers are silenced and the many people who make it work are well protected from scrutiny.

What seems to irritate the peddlers is that the officers think that they owe them a living and that they are getting fat on cheating the public, the MPAA and that they have to buy back what was originally theirs. However, due to shortage of supply, this is welcome and the price is paid

Our hearts actually go out to the DVD peddlers, not so much that we enjoy buying and watching movies that would otherwise be unaffordable to us at RM150 for an original. The local cuts are rubbish, no THX, DTS or surround sound, and they are also censored by FINAS who applies strick Islamic thinking that a mother kissing a child is "haram" a sin and shouldn't be shown. Much less, the occassional kissing and revealing clothes. Did we say that it's also about RM60 per DVD?

But really, our hearts go out to them because they have families as well, and although they are peddling pirated copies to the public, they are not involved in the vices that plague our cities, they don't hurt anyone and they just go about their day ensuring that we have a free flow of information that is uncensored for our un-interrupted viewing pleasure. The only one who sufferes is the MPAA and some large production companies like Universal and MGM that already make a killing in the developed world.

Fact is, we are a developing nation, though it may be wrong, piracy has done it's good for us. Not only for the movies, but also all the software.

Wrong? Bad? Immoral? If you think so, think again...

A short and simple example. A kid learns how to use Photoshop, a software that would easily be RM5,000, and he becomes proficient in it and applies it in school and has a genuine interest. He eventually becomes a graphic artist or a computer programmer. Who is to say? No family would spend that much to buy software, or even RM600 for Windows Vista. Just so that their child can experiment with it, eventually get bored and lose interest? No, it doesn't happen, not in a developing nation.

Software piracy has help build the proficiency of our nation's people and enabled the ones who can least afford it and the ignorant to experience it and learn something about it. What we have today, is a result of that. All it takes is interest and RM10 to get a copy.

As wrong as it sounds, there is good that has come from it. Our government fails to see what they are supporting and what the nation needs. They are supporting western values of developed countries that can already afford these things.

However, as I understand that the people in government are mostly now from the 20,000 local graduates that couldn't get jobs in the private sector due to language proficiency and substandard understandings of their degrees, I suppose, that some dimwitted idea would have come from one of these people, probably because they don't see the benefit of it, didn't benefit from it and is obviously computer illiterate. They are most likely the ones surfing for porn rather than reading articles like this from the world of free information and enlightening themselves. God help them and God help us all.

Two cops arrested after trader reports extortion

KUALA LUMPUR: Two policemen were arrested early yesterday for allegedly extorting RM21,000 from a night market trader.

Both the policemen, said to be lance corporals in their 40s, were arrested at the Sentul district police headquarters when they came in for questioning.One is said to be attached to the city police headquarters and the other is from the Sentul district. They were remanded for three days.

The 42-year-old trader, who lodged a report at the Taman Melawati police station, claimed he had been extorted twice within the past two weeks.In both cases, the same suspects are believed to be involved. However, it is learnt that investigators are looking for at least one other suspect.In the first incident about two weeks ago, the trader was at his stall when he was approached by three men who introduced themselves as policemen.

They arrested him for allegedly being involved in illegal gaming. The trader was told that he would be released if he paid them RM15,000.The money was brought by the victim’s son to a police station in Setapak, and the victim was released.

Last Wednesday, while the trader was at his stall about 9pm, he was again approached by three men. It is not known if they were the same men.The three men told the trader that they wanted to check his car. They did not find anything. The trader was then ordered to drive the three to a foodcourt in Bandar Baru Sentul.

He told police that the three demanded another RM15,000. The trader appealed and the amount was reduced to RM6,000.Once again, the trader contacted his son, who brought the money to the foodcourt.

After that, the trader claimed he received several calls from one of the suspects who demanded more money.

Fed up, he lodged the police report.