NY Attorney General Launches Fight Against Organized Crime Movie Piracy

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo announced the introduction of legislation to combat the creation, distribution, and sale of illegally recorded movies in New York State. The legislation has been endorsed by the leaders of both the New York State Senate and Assembly and will reduce film piracy through expanded enforcement by the Attorney General’s Office and tougher penalties for offenders. Cuomo was joined at a press conference by the actress Tina Fey and others from the film and television industry.

According to recent industry reports, over 50% of all illegally recorded movies are filmed in New York. Once films are recorded, they are then often distributed nationwide by organized crime syndicates. Despite this fact, New York State only charges illegal film recording as a violation, merely imposing a small fee on offenders.

The Piracy Protection Act brings the existing illegal recording statute up-to-date by making it a Class A misdemeanor to either illegally record a film or live performance or use an illegal recording for commercial purposes. First time offenders face the possibility of up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine and multiple repeat offenders will be charged with a felony, which brings even higher penalties.

“New York has become the hub for a criminal network dedicated to film piracy,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “The wide distribution of pirated films originating from New York costs our state vital economic resources, including thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue. We are all paying a price for the leniency given to this type of organized crime, and I will not let it continue on my watch.”

Cuomo also announced today that, in conjunction with this legislation, the Attorney General’s Office is creating a new Special Assistant Attorney General to coordinate local and state law enforcement efforts against film piracy. The Special Assistant Attorney General will work with the Attorney General’s Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), which investigates and prosecutes criminal networks that operate across county and state lines. This person will also work with local police and district attorneys to aggressively pursue emerging and existing organized crime enterprises that peddle pirated films across the state and country.

Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno said, “When someone participates in multimedia piracy, they are stealing from artists and hurting the entertainment industry that is such a large part of New York’s
economy. I commend the Attorney General, Senator Padavan and Senator Volker for putting forward legislation that sends a clear message that such piracy is a serious crime and that those who engage in video piracy will be held accountable for their actions.”

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, “I am proud to be supporting this legislation to combat piracy in New York. This bill will help us address film piracy at its source and will be an effective deterrent to criminals who profit at the expense of our entertainment community. I commend Attorney General Cuomo for working with the legislature and offering an effective solution to this growing problem.”

Tina Fey, “As an actor, a writer and a New Yorker, it's discouraging to see the widespread effects piracy has had on our industry. Piracy is an issue that is often overlooked, but is one that has an enormous negative impact on every person who works in entertainment, from the stagehands, to the actors, to the producers and so on. It means a great deal to have our Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, speak out on behalf of all New Yorkers within the artistic community of this city and State. And remember, when you buy a DVD, you should not be able to see the heads of people watching it in a movie theater at the bottom of the screen.”

Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. said, “Motion picture piracy is a widespread problem that not only costs the film community billions of dollars but comes at a tremendous cost in terms of jobs and the overall economy of New York and the country. I am pleased Attorney General Cuomo recognizes the importance of this issue and is working hard to take it on.”

Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal, said, “The current tidal wave of counterfeiting and piracy undermines future growth and kills jobs in the entertainment industry and in all innovation-dependent sectors of the U.S. economy. Enhanced penalties and specialized, dedicated enforcement resources are key to fighting piracy and counterfeiting. I applaud Attorney General Cuomo for this initiative, and in particular for his ground-breaking decision to create a specialized deputy in his office dedicated to fighting piracy. We believe this act of leadership is a model for modern law enforcement nationwide.”

New York State Senator Frank Padavan said, “Film and music piracy has quickly become a major part of the growing criminal counterfeit epidemic. Year after year, multimedia piracy has had an adverse impact on New York’s economy. This wave of criminal activity has cost the entertainment sector billions in income while leaving New York State with a significant loss in tax revenue. In order to effectively and proactively combat the emergence of multimedia piracy, we must enact legislation on the state level that will increase criminal penalties for these crimes and send a clear message that counterfeiting and piracy will no longer be tolerated in New York.”

New York State Senator Dale Volker said, “Let’s be clear, video piracy is not a victimless crime. Every pirated film from a theater in our state represents millions of lost dollars in state revenues that would otherwise used by local governments to pay for essential services, assist our school districts, or be reinvested for in-state productions. Additionally, the thousands of New Yorkers involved in the motion picture industry are at risk of being downsized based on these financial losses exacerbated by pirated films. This is unacceptable and it is why we must proactively deal with this crime and make those who perpetuate it responsible for their actions.”

New York State Assembly Codes Committee Chair Joseph R. Lentol said, “Piracy is a serious burden for New York City and New York State and individuals who illegally record films and performances in theaters should not get a free ride. This legislation is a critical tool to ensure that these criminals pay the price for their actions. I want to thank the Attorney General for working with us on this issue and for utilizing his office to be an important part of the enforcement of our piracy laws.”

New York Division President of Screen Actors Guild, Sam Freed said “The bottom line is that people who illegally record and sell bootleg videos are stealing from actors, which hurts actors and all workers in entertainment. Attorney General Cuomo has created a new Special Assistant Attorney General, a first-of-its-kind position to directly address this problem. I want to thank the Attorney General for his hard work and dedication to this issue.”

Russ Hollander, Eastern Executive Director of the Directors Guild of America, said “Piracy hurts all artists including our directors and their teams. It is very important for all of us that action is taken to prevent the rampant theft and distribution of pirated materials. Thanks to the efforts of Attorney General Cuomo, we will now have stronger legislation on the books and increased efforts of law enforcement to aggressively pursue those who engage in piracy.”

Thomas C. Short, International President of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States Its Territories and Canada, said “The cost of piracy for our members cannot be understated. Every year millions and millions of dollars that would go to higher wages, new jobs, as well as healthcare and other benefits, are lost to a criminal network that profits from the sale of pirated materials. I applaud Attorney General Cuomo for taking this
issue head on and standing up for workers in New York and across the country.”

Robert Sunshine, Executive Director of National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State, said “Illegal piracy is rampant not just in Hollywood but all over New York City as well. Camcording in theatres all over the city are sold to bootleggers and are out on the street and online within a day of a movie opening and this causes severe economic problems for the movie theatre community. We are extremely grateful to Attorney General Cuomo for taking the lead on piracy and providing this much needed assistance to the entire entertainment industry.”

Film piracy has been devastating to the nation’s economy, eliminating potential jobs and earnings for U.S. workers and costing both national and state governments millions of dollars in uncollected tax revenues. A report by the Institute for Policy’s Innovation in 2006 found the following results:

* Motion picture piracy costs U.S. workers $5.5 billion annually in lost earnings;
* The cost of motion picture piracy prevented the creation of 141,030 new jobs;
* Motion picture piracy costs governments at all levels $837 million in lost tax revenue. Absent piracy, an additional $147 million in corporate income taxes from motion picture corporations, $91 million in other taxes on motion picture production or sales, and $599 million in personal income taxes from employees would have been paid annually to federal, state and local governments.

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Barber Shop's Showing of Mob Movies a Hit with Customers

Mike Welsh walked into Larry’s Barber Shop one afternoon and witnessed two men getting clipped, one in a barber’s chair, the other on a small television screen.

Larry Babizhaev, a barber from Azerbaijan, is hooked on mob movies like “The Godfather,” and watches them in his shop.

“What are we watching today?” Mr. Welsh asked Larry Babizhaev, the shop’s owner.

“The Godfather: Part II,” Mr. Babizhaev replied, his scissors dancing atop a customer’s head. “Why, you want to watch something else?”

“Nah,” said Mr. Welsh, standing beneath a framed poster of Tony Montana, the maniacal drug dealer played by Al Pacino in “Scarface.” “I like your taste in mob movies — I’ll watch what you’re watching.”

Mr. Babizhaev, 29, and his family left Baku, Azerbaijan, for Midwood, Brooklyn, 12 years ago.

“We were furriers back in Baku,” he said. “I came here and started thinking that cutting hair would be a good job, so I went to barber’s school and opened this place six years ago.”

From the mirrored reflections of the talking heads in his tiny shop on 57th Street near 10th Avenue in Manhattan, Mr. Babizhaev receives political opinions, financial advice, sports commentary and other news between haircut and tip.

Along the way, some of his customers started recommending films like “The Godfather,” “Goodfellas” and “A Bronx Tale.” “I just got hooked,” Mr. Babizhaev said.

He began spending a good portion of his tips on mob movies and “anything to do with gangsters.”

Before long, he was waxing nostalgic about “made” men like John J. Gotti and made-up men like Michael Corleone. His DVD collection lines several shelves in his shop, sharing space with scissors, combs, talcum powder and other tools of his trade. On one counter sits a small velvet coffin that Mr. Babizhaev opened slowly to reveal a “Scarface” DVD resting peacefully inside.

“Did you know that there were several different ‘Scarface’ movies?” he said. “My favorite is from 1932, with Paul Muni.”

But movies are not the only lure. Mr. Babizhaev recently finished reading “Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life” by Robert Lacey and is now reading “Cosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia” by John Dickie.

As for his favorite movies, he rattles off titles as if he were emptying the clip of a tommy gun: “Angels With Dirty Faces,” “White Heat,” “Donnie Brasco,” “Wannabes,” “King of New York,” “10th & Wolf,” “Brooklyn Rules,” “We Own The Night.”

Decorated entirely in the style of American Underworld, Mr. Babizhaev’s shop is the kind of place where Martin Scorsese might not mind getting a little taken off the sides. Framed portraits and posters of real-life gangsters like Mr. Gotti and Bugsy Siegel crowd wall space with some of the actors who portrayed such men, James Cagney, James Gandolfini, George Raft, Edward G. Robinson, Joe Pesci.

Some of his customers, old Hell’s Kitchen types, can be pretty colorful, too. They occupy chairs alongside doctors, lawyers and businessmen. Mr. Welsh, an accountant at CBS, says he enjoys it when Mr. Babizhaev blurts out memorable lines from mob movies, including “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” (Mr. Cagney in “White Heat”); “I’m funny how, I mean, funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you?” (Mr. Pesci in “Goodfellas”); and “Say hello to my little friend,” (Mr. Pacino with a machine gun in “Scarface.”)

While snipping Mr. Welsh’s hair, Mr. Babizhaev began talking about Albert Anastasia, the mob boss who was assassinated in 1957 in a barber chair at the Park Sheraton Hotel (now the Park Central Hotel), just blocks from Mr. Babizhaev’s barber shop.

“Oh man, while he was getting his hair cut,” Mr. Babizhaev said of Mr. Anastasia’s demise as he sneaked a peek at “The Godfather: Part II.” “That was a tough way to go.”

Mr. Babizhaev said that working long hours and spending time with his family — he lives in Midwood with his wife, Esmeralda, and their 1-year-old daughter, Nicole — sometimes gets in the way of watching a good mob plot unfold.

For instance, it took him weeks to open a Christmas gift from a customer, a DVD of “The Pope of Greenwich Village.”

“I watched it with a few of my customers,” Mr. Babizhaev said. “We all loved it.”

Thanks to Vincent M. Mallozzi

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Grand Theft Auto IV: An Interactive Sopranos

Hype or hot, that's the question about Grand Theft Auto IV.

The name brings a visceral reaction from many - press releases from teachers federations, fist-shaking from old fogeys, soap boxes being put into position by politicians - all of which does nothing but sell a load more games.
Analysts are predicting that GTA IV will sell more than Halo 3 in its first week, not only making it the biggest opening for a game, but the biggest opening week, revenue-wise, of any entertainment entity.

So, is it worth it? Likely, it will be.

The clever thing about the GTA franchise is they get all the outrage - "Oh my god, this is the game where you go around killing prostitutes for points."

But lost to the mainstream jackals, none of whom ever play the game, is the gameplay.

One of the most smart game franchises out there, Grand Theft Auto pioneered open-world gameplay. What that means is, even though there are missions in the game and a storyline to follow, one of the great appeals of the game is the freedom.

Jump in a car - any car, toss out the driver and go explore the city, anywhere, anytime, at your leisure.

This time the story is in present day, April 2008, and you're cast as Niko Bellic, a Russian mafia-type who's landed in Liberty City (New York), hoping to live a straight and narrow life. Well, that ain't going to happen. Your cousin and host of new acquaintances quickly get you in their clutches, and you're off into the world of organized crime.

What is different about this GTA is the polish. There was a certain charm to the past Grand Theft games, especially the '80s-retro Vice City, in its clunky, almost cartoon look.

Now, the game is much more precise. The graphics are much more realistic, completely state-of-the-art, as is a new "physics" model. The way characters move and react now is much more fluid.

There's a new movement program in the making of this game, so if you get hit by a car, you'll react differently each time as the reaction has been made to completely mirror human movement. Get hit in the knee, or the head, or the shoulder, and you'll react differently to each.

There is a very smooth and fresh feel to the movement in the game and it's a huge improvement.

The combat is also evolved. This game now has a much more professional feel, like famous shooters such as Halo or even the new Army of Two. Targeting and accuracy are much more at the forefront. There are, as you'd imagine in organized crime, a host of nasty firearms to exploit, from Uzis to rocket launchers, and you'll need them all in your arsenal because there's a lot of challenge in this game.

Liberty City and its citizens really are the stars of this game though. It looks, and reacts, amazingly real. If you just punk out a random stranger on the street, some people will drop their belongings and run away, others will come to their aid and even challenge you physically. This is where you can either fight for no reason, and bring the heat of police, or back down and move on.

While the game has grown up with substantially better physics, graphics and combat, there are some wonderfully familiar GTA touches left in. One, thankfully, is the cars. They're still rough to drive, and too many collisions will set you on fire and will ultimately explode them.

The other is the sense of humour. From the wonderfully-wicked radio DJs you listen to in the car between hit songs (yet another great soundtrack), to the billboards around town, to the standup act of Ricky Gervais in the comedy club, this GTA appears to have the same tongue-in-cheek, cheap-shot smarm that the others have all displayed.

Make no mistake, this is a violent game, an interactive Sopranos if you will. It is about organized crime and completing underhanded and illegal missions, so it will no doubt draw a load of fire from the do-gooders who will blame it for setting the kids of today on a path to hell. There are ratings, remember, and this one will be rated mature, just like movies are.

Stick to the ratings and Grand Theft Auto 4 looks like it will deliver on the hype for weeks, if not months of gameplay.

Thanks to Paul Chapman

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Mobster Supports Having a Broad Vocabulary

He's known as Vinny Gorgeous, but convicted mob boss Vincent Basciano might want to trade up to Vinny Photogenic or Vinny Pulchritudinous.

The feds might want to pick up a dictionary before reading Vincent "Vinny Gorgeous" Basciano's letters.

Some of his letters from federal prison, which are being intercepted and scrutinized by authorities, are full of such words as "thespian," "flippant" and "sagacious," his lawyer said Thursday.

A new form of gangland slang, or a coded message to fellow wise guys? No, attorney Ephraim Savitt said, just vocabulary Basciano wants the recipient -- his 7-year-old son -- to learn.

"He wants the kid to go to college and be a success," Savitt said, claiming his client's fatherly aims are being frustrated by authorities' slow pace in reviewing the letters.

Basciano "enjoys using $10 words and uses them correctly, I might add," his attorney said.

Basciano, 48, is serving a life sentence for the 2001 killing of a Mafia rival. A jury convicted him in 2006 of racketeering, attempted murder and gambling but deadlocked on a murder charge in the slaying of Frank Santoro. After a retrial, Basciano was convicted of murder in July 2007.

Basciano still faces trial on charges of plotting to kill a prosecutor.

Authorities say Basciano became the acting leader of the Bonanno organized crime family after the arrest of Joseph Massino, who is serving a life sentence for murder, racketeering and other crimes.

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The Last Sit-Down

The Last Sit-Down is a limited edition mixed media canvas painting that is a stunning work of art romanticizing the Italian-American mafia's most glorious years in history. Thirteen of La Cosa Nostra's most notorious members transcend the different eras in which they lived and together feast in a setting fit for a Don. From left to right, Joe Bonanno, Sal Maranzano, Vito Genovese, Joe Masseria, Frank Costello, Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, John Gotti, Paul Castellano, Joseph Colombo, Carlo Gambino, Albert Anastasia, and Gaetano Lucchese await your arrival to "The Last Sit-Down".

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