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[blakegeee]

Greenside, on 2008-10-13 10:15:46, said:

rishi, on 2008-10-13 00:49:51, said:

Greenside, on 2008-10-12 22:08:39, said:

I heard from a friend who's wife owned an internet cafe that they got shaken down for a hefty fine for having "copied" Thai music on one of the computers in her shop about a year ago. It was their habit to clear down the publicly accessed parts of the hard drives frequently to get rid of the garbage that people leave and one day after they just had done this routine it seems that a couple of guys came in and dropped some files on a machine. They were followed in about an hour or two later by some "officials" from the copyright police along with some real coppers who confisated the computer and served them a summons. At first he thought he would have to drop someone a couple of grand but it ended up costing him nearer 25 if I recall. How real the officials were he never found out.

Funny how things get "moderated" as time goes by. As usual, the best gossip in town originates from TV:
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/What-s-Name-...on-t142566.html

Not sure I understand your comment but it was Wadsy who told me about the incident before he and his family returned to Oz.

I knew a woman in Chiang Mai who had this problem at her internet cafe. People representing the offended music company came in and insisted they go to the police station with 1 specific computer that they already knew had the files. Unfortunately she complied and went to the station where she paid (i think about 10,000b) for them to drop the charges.

Also, my wife used to work at a Karaoke place and they got caught many years ago for playing Thai music from certain labels without the license. Ever since the place had to buy a license to play music from that label, cannot play music from another specific label because they can't afford the license for that label, and they can play a bit of music from some other little labels. And now at our bar, she is always nervous to play any Thai music but we have never heard of any issue with farang music.

[Mr.Capers]

Just got nailed with this one last night. My place is in the Ramkampaeng area in Bangkok. Same company: RKT Publishing. Plainly obvious they are working with the police on this scam. Same MO, raid the bar and bring the manager to the police station, then proceed to extort money for release. There is really nothing you can do but pay. They hauled in about 4 bar owners that night, they promised there would be many more to come...

I had the Grammy license, didnt know about the RKT license. Never got an invoice or request for payment. This is definitely an organized extortion scam.

[SomNamNah]

not just farang targets, the cops with a squad of 5 copyright folk raid thai markets for fake doraemon and hello kitty products...
i guess being jap companies they have more sway.. maybe sony japan is hot on music...
the fines for the small shops selling bits and bobs of doraemon goes upto 40,000 baht. im not sure how much is really paid. wouldnt be suprised if it all had to be paid - in installments.

they must sell well, as the offending shops restock and sell more doraemon after a few days. maybe its the same stock!!

psstt.. wanna buy some 'ello kitty?

Edited by SomNamNah, 2008-12-09 12:44:42.

[bastaard]

KevinHUNT, on 2008-10-22 04:16:40, said:

piewarmer, on 2008-10-19 12:11:40, said:

Ulysses G., on 2008-10-16 18:57:56, said:

If you put me in the monkey house for 10 minutes, I would be begging to pay.

thats the way it is, you don't get to pay a small bail and deal with legalities later.
never got a receipt for the 40K , what a surprise,
beware, they are now roaming Chiang Rai.

As I said before - these folk are preying on ignorance and fear.


See this article. I'll maybe send an email to them.

Hi,

Did you write that email and if, do you kow the status of that amended law?

[Ulysses G.]

The folks at Art Cafe told me that the police came to their restaurant last week and arrested two workers and took their CD player and Thai and Western music and demanded a lot of money. Their lawyer and a Police neighbor got invcolved and got in reduced to something like 10,000 baht.
Is this really legal?

[KevinHunt]

bastaard, on 2009-01-10 05:47:26, said:

KevinHUNT, on 2008-10-22 04:16:40, said:

As I said before - these folk are preying on ignorance and fear.


See this article. I'll maybe send an email to them.

Hi,

Did you write that email and if, do you kow the status of that amended law?

I contacted the company that the guys were 'representing' and they 'seemed' to know nothing about it. 

As far as I know, if you are only playing non-Thai music you don't have a problem. I imagine Art Cafe got done for playing Thai music. 

See the 'Music Police' article on this forum for more uptodate info.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Music-Police...ight+chiang+mai

Edited by KevinHunt, 2009-09-03 13:04:51.

[IanForbes]

Mr.Capers, on 2008-12-09 12:27:55, said:

Just got nailed with this one last night. My place is in the Ramkampaeng area in Bangkok. Same company: RKT Publishing. Plainly obvious they are working with the police on this scam. Same MO, raid the bar and bring the manager to the police station, then proceed to extort money for release. There is really nothing you can do but pay. They hauled in about 4 bar owners that night, they promised there would be many more to come...

I had the Grammy license, didnt know about the RKT license. Never got an invoice or request for payment. This is definitely an organized extortion scam.

And people wonder why some folks hire hit men.

[sassienie]

I was told by a friend of a friend some time ago that there was an American guy being held in the cells at a police station in Chiang mai.

He was a behind the scenes small cafe owner. A tourist tipped off the police that he had a large store of music and movie CDs & DVDs on the premises.

Apparently this guy was selling them and a tourist who for some reason wasn`t satisfied with the quality of the video, demanded his/her money back. The guy refused so the tourist complained to the police.

It transpired that the cafe owner was actually downloading this stuff from the Internet and then selling them to customers from 100 baht up to 600 baht a CD or DVD.

I believe the guy was forced to close down the cafe, fined something like 300000 baht and threatened with deportation if he offended again.

Edited by sassienie, 2009-09-04 00:49:56.

[greengirl]

they are out in force again! beware!!!! if they come to your business, 1 ask to see a warrant to search your place IF THEY DONT HAVE ONE TELL THEM TO COME BACK WHEN THEY HAVE 1. 2 dont let them take anything from your shop they cannot take anything without a warrant. 3 if they still give you problems then call the tourist police and get them to come to your business. dont go to the police station with them and dont let them talk to the police on the phone. ring friends to come to your shop the more the better! 4 DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING! 5 let your thai wife or partner know about this so she can be ready to deal with it. 6 DON'T PAY A SINGLE BAHT!
THIS IS A SCAM INVOLVING BENT POLICE AND THEY ARE ATTACKING EVERY BUSINESS NOT JUST BARS! SHOPS AND CAFES TOO!

[Ulysses G.]

Is a "WARRANT" the exact term to ask them for? How do you ask for a warrant in Thai?

[uptheos]

Ulysses G., on 2009-09-23 13:30:20, said:

Is a "WARRANT" the exact term to ask them for? How do you ask for a warrant in Thai?

Mai Kon.....I think หมายค้น http://english-thai-dictionary.com/createi...;filename=63785

[Ulysses G.]

One of my staff says that sounds right to her.THANK YOU!

[KevinBloodyWilson]

Ulysses G., on 2009-09-23 13:30:20, said:

Is a "WARRANT" the exact term to ask them for? How do you ask for a warrant in Thai?

Not sure, but "ekkasan saan" (court document) should be easy to understand. Otherwise get your lawyer to talk to them before you 'invite' them in.

Not sure if the police need a search warrant here do they? Europe it ain't.

Edited by KevinBloodyWilson, 2009-09-23 15:41:45.

[pjclark1]

A friend of mine has a bar (well his Thai gf does)
When the police came along to see their "licence" he asked the police to hold up their police id beside their face so he could photograph face and card together. Same for man from licence.

No further problems!

[Ulysses G.]

KevinBloodyWilson, on 2009-09-23 15:41:07, said:

Ulysses G., on 2009-09-23 13:30:20, said:

Is a "WARRANT" the exact term to ask them for? How do you ask for a warrant in Thai?

Not sure, but "ekkasan saan" (court document) should be easy to understand. Otherwise get your lawyer to talk to them before you 'invite' them in.

Not sure if the police need a search warrant here do they? Europe it ain't.

That is what I wonder about. The Art Cafe got their lawyer and a "freind" who is a policeman involved and ended up supposedly paying less, but they still paid and she is Thai, she is wealthy and far from stupid.

Edited by Ulysses G., 2009-09-23 18:13:18.

[Donnyboy]

maybe a solution, play your pirated music from an ipod hooked up to itrip, tune in your stereo to the itrip, keep ipod out of sight, i think the itrip or iparty is good for 30-50 feet for transmission wirelessly
or
if you play your music via your computer system, go to imeem or any of the music sites where they stream music free, and dont have any music stored in yr computer

Edited by Donnyboy, 2009-09-23 20:27:35.

[Ulysses G.]

They seem to be targeting ANY type of music and don't care if it is pirated.

[getgoin]

Technically all music played in bars and restaurants is subject to royalty fees paid through the few music associations. Ascap is one. I don't know any of the Thai associations. I have never agreed with the policy as playing music in bars and restaurants is promoting the music that is being played. Even live music covers are subject to licensing fees not by the band playing the music but by the owner of the establishment.

The way around it when playing foreign music is to play the satellite DMX. All their music is licensed already and you don't have to pay anything else for it.

Edited by getgoin, 2009-09-24 09:35:51.

[Loaded]

If you have UBC, there is a music only button with 30 channels including the BBC. Would this be exempt from any royalty fee? I would imagine so. Certainly no 'evidence' on your computer.

Edited by Loaded, 2009-09-24 10:28:42.

[Donnyboy]

Ulysses G., on 2009-09-23 20:39:46, said:

They seem to be targeting ANY type of music and don't care if it is pirated.

sheese, what, even places where the music is background music for like say a spa, hairdresses, hotel, gym, bookshop?

have they been to yr place UG?

[Ulysses G.]

No, but the security cameras and microphones are all ready for action!

[punkrocker]

This bunch of bad eggs tried to screw me for a sh*t load of cash. vicious bully's.
they got nothing from me 0000000000000000 baht!