RIAA Training Video Leaked onto Torrent Sites (Updated)

The RIAA apparently produced a new video, already available on a variety of torrent tracker sites, in conjunction with the National District Attorneys Association with the goal of instructing U.S. prosecutors on how to deal with music piracy cases. According to early reports, the video, called In Trial, also provides instructions on how to get an RIAA investigator qualified as a court expert.

P2PNet's Jon Newton pointed out that the video kicks off with a judge's gavel slamming down, and that we can expect clips from the file to appear on video sharing sites soon. This of course would be followed by a meta-lawsuit in which the RIAA sues to protect something it recorded itself.

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Update: The video apparently isn't as old as it seems, and pertains mostly to physical CD piracy, with ex-Maryland state trooper Frank Walters pointing to a CD burner tower and showing how prosecutors can identify a pirated CD (no printing on the CD). It also includes some choice lines like as this one, about how piracy accusations can help take down people who are skirting other laws (think Al Capone):

Jim Dedman, National District Attorneys Association: "If I have my drug officers out there, and they see what seems like a nice music collection, this may be something you could help me out with."

Deborah Robinson, Regional Counsel, Anti-Piracy Div., RIAA: "Exactly, exactly. And sometimes drug officers call us and say, 'we know they're selling music, can you help us?... We're trying to arrest this drug dealer, what should I look for, what should I put in that affidavit?

Here's a short clip from YouTube (again, the entire "In Trial" video is available via torrent tracker sites):

Newton writes,

Starring ex-prosecutor Deborah Robinson and Frank Walters,
an ex-Maryland State trooper, it was made to "assist in the training ofU.S. prosecutors responsible for handling music piracy cases."

It includes footage from "surveillance" videos and, "techniques onhow to identify illegal sound recordings and highlights," not tomention, "examples of how illegal music is sold."

And here's the kicker.

It even claims to provide instructions on, and we quote, "qualifying an RIAA investigator as an expert."

So that's where Doug Jacobson and MediaSentry acquired their skills!

Nice one.

Update: Pirate Bay user phrackingtoast claims to have originally obtained the video through a friend who "holds a position in the criminal prosecutorial system":

I came into posession of this video through a close friend. He happensto hold a position in the criminal prosecutorial system. He is aprosecutor of felonies, which is what makes this video such a wonderfulillustration of just how overboard the media industry has gone in theirpersecutions of pirates. Should downloading music ever be considered a felony?

My contact knows my views on the current state of intellectualproperty law in the United States. I tend to be somewhat outspoken onthe subject. Obviously, when I saw the envelope in his office with theattractive and oh-so-professional RIAA/NDAA letterhead protruding fromthe top, I could not resist. I begged him to let me have it, and sincehe tends to sympathize with those of us who hold less respect for IP
rights, he consented.

I was expecting the video to be epic. I had no idea, however, thatit would compare pirates to terrorists and drug dealers. It was toogood to be true. It was a wonderful find, and a perfect example of howmisinformed the legal system is on the issues of piracy.

The RIAA is deluded. They have a warped perception of how mediadistribution should work in our high-tech world. They refuse to adapt.
Instead, they stick to their age-old business model, they cry foul, andthey persecute pirates. They recruit friends in high places in thelegal system. They have succeeded in painting us as the enemy throughtheir propaganda campaigns.

We are not the enemy. We are the new generation of media consumers.

We should be their allies.

Thanks for hearing me out, and for reporting on it. The video is good for a laugh, no?