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In this story on the NZ Herald website, former RIANZ CEO Terence O'Niell-Joyce tells us that "up to half" of the blank CDRs imported into NZ last year could have been used to illegally burn copies of music albums.

Okay Terence -- where did that 50% figure come from and what's your evidence to support it?

Why didn't the reporter (Owen Hembry) bother to ask for some kind of evidence to support this figure?

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The cynical amongst us might be so bold as to suggest that this little outburst by Mr OJ is perhaps more to do with him securing a new job than it is about presenting accurate figures in respect to the levels of music piracy in NZ.

It seems that Mr OJ is "hoping to take up a full time role as the head of an anti-piracy unit working on behalf of RIANZ" so I suspect he's after all the media exposure he can get.

Upping the FUD level, OJ hints that he'll have wonderful technology designed to identify and track down pirates at his fingertips -- but then raises the FUD level even further by adding that he can't really tell us what that is for fear of giving too much away.

So did we learn anything from this little story?

Perhaps the NZ Herald is really short of good technology stories?

Perhaps the RIANZ has a lot of clout in convincing NZ Herald reporters and editors to act as a free press-release outlet for their FUD?

Perhaps that the RIANZ still hasn't got the message that piracy is not theft at all -- go ask your lawyers about the legal definition of theft guys.

Or maybe just that nothing has changed at all and clearly the RIANZ considers that half the people who walk out of The Warehouse clutching a bag of blank CDs are music pirates deserving of harsh punishment.

I'm certainly not in favour of anyone pirating intellectual property of any kind -- but I'm even more opposed to an industry making unsubstantiated claims in an attempt to engender public support for the problems produced by their outdated distribution policies.

Remember, this is an industry that stands strongly opposed to the government's proposed amendments to the copyright act that would give you and I the right to format-shift our music (ie: rip a legally purchased CD into MP3 format for use in a portable player).

Sorry, I'm no pirate but you'll get no sympathy here.

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