The Associated press has aquired a memo through the Freedom of Information act, bringing to our attention a piracy operation located in the bowels of the West Virginia State Capitol building. According to this report, state investigators "stumbled" upon a basement office outfitted with computers, video and audio gear, along with software commonly used to pirate movies and music recordings. They also found computer hard discs with some 40 full length movies and also 3500 MP3s, amounting to about 14 gigs worth of intellectual property. In addition, they also found a stash of hundreds of blank DVDs, CDs and jacket covers, all purchased with tax dollars.
When you
read this report, the fact that a piracy lab was running in the state capitol kind of makes you wonder how well your tax dollars are being monitored no matter where you live! Here is what (hopefully the soon to be replaced) Administration Secretary Robert Ferguson had to say about the situation.
| Ferguson confirmed Tuesday that his staff found the makeshift audio-video studio amid his widening probe into spending and other abuses at the state General Services Division. The review found that someone in General Services sidestepped state purchasing rules to buy more than $88,000 worth of computers and related equipment over the last three years, including the items discovered in the basement office. Not all the purchased computers and gear can be located, Ferguson said. |
In this case, the state motto kind of fits!
Source: Sunday Gazette Mail
