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Film piracy may be source of terrorist funding

by jayr_patron | May 26, 2008 at 09:13 pm | 214 views | 1 comment | 2 recommendations

Film piracy may be a primary source of funding for terrorists and other organized crime groups. This is according to chairman of the Philippines' Optical Media Board (OMB) Eduardo "Edu" Manzano, who came up with the conclusion after his group yielded illegal drugs and firearms during country-wide raids of commerical establishments and other hubs suspected of trading and/or producing pirated DVD films...also known in the country, albeit in jest, as De-Be-De.

Manzano said the series of raids they conducted in various parts of the country yielded illegal drugs, firearms and bullets –a sure indication that organized armed groups are behind the illegal operation.<?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = O />
“Seized items included shabu, grenades and several hundreds of ammunitions,” he said.
Manzano also said the <?XML:NAMESPACE PREFIX = ST1 />Philippines has become a major source of pirated movies sold in the US and other countries around the world.
He said the enemies of the state could be replicating their counterparts in Lebanon where the major source of pirated materials are under the protection of the Hezbollah group.
The OMB chairman, however, did not identify which armed groups are behind the piracy operations in the country.
The Intellectual Property Division of the National Bureau of Investigation has already intensified its campaign against piracy.