The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency launched "Operation In Our Sites" almost one year ago. A concerted effort designed to combat internet piracy and stem the distribution of stolen content, the mission yielded results: dozens of illicit sites have been seized since its inception, though not without some collateral damage and questions regarding the operation's efficiency and accuracy.
ICE has just unveiled its latest attempt at curbing piracy, and it's not quite what most expected.
Featuring a street vendor apparently offering free ("illegally downloaded, but free!") movies to passersby, he adds a second caveat to make them think twice. "If you take these movies, this nice woman right here loses her job," he says, pointing to a noticeably out-of-place boom mic operator.
Ironically, the woman should probably be out of work anyway; she's terrible at her job. You're supposed to hold the boom mic above the actors, lady!
The unintentionally hilarious production quickly changes from humorous to slightly threatening, however, as the vendor tells a businessman who has no qualms taking some movies - and someone's livelihood - that he "has no soul" and is "what's wrong with everything."
One female browser contemplates his words and decides to just say no, proving that 50% of the time, anti-piracy warnings work every time.
TorrentFreak alleges that despite the video being posted on several seized sites, only one of them actually had anything to do with pirated films. Torrent-finder.com displays the tell-tale seizure notice, though doesn't feature the video due to an appeal it filed.
What do you think about the video? Let us know in the comment section.
