To combat counterfeiting, mainstream Hollywood has unveiled a program to have two black Labradors trained in the art of DVD-sniffing.
Broadcasting and Cable magazine has reported that in an effort to combat the scourge of pirated DVD’s of television programs and movies, “Federation Against Copyright Theft and the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) have trained the dogs [named Lucky and Flo] to sniff out the polycarbonate used in making disks.”
The report went on to say that “after eight months of schooling in Northern Ireland, Lucky and Flo were unleashed in a trial run in May at Britain’s Stansted Airport, where they found all of the DVDs hidden in a cache of FedEx packages.”
The MPA estimates that piracy cost Hollywood studios $6.1 billion last year. The organization will launch the Lucky and Flo tour this week at its headquarters in Washington “in an effort to encourage customs agents the world over to get their dogs hooked on polycarbonates.”
The tour will make several stops, including Los Angeles, Mexico, Singapore, Hong Kong, Dubai and London.
