Geek.com Geek News - RIAA posing as cops, raiding street vendors: "NEWS
It appears that the RIAA has taken the law into its own hands. Dressed in black 'raid' vests, flashing impressive IDs, and filling out pink incident reports, four men descend on a street vendor selling bootleg music CDs and convince him to give up his stash. All of the raiders have RIAA stenciled on the back of their vests, and all are ex-cops.

The RIAA thinks that this is perfectly okay, and has a clear picture of who its enemy is. According to John Langley, Western regional coordinator for the RIAA Anti-Piracy Unit, 'a large percentage [of the vendors] are of a Hispanic nature. Today he's Jose Rodriguez, tomorrow he's Raul something or other, and tomorrow after that he's something else. These people change their identity all the time.' This is the reason he gives for filling out incident reports and taking pictures of 'offenders,' at least.

The EFF also seems to think that this is acceptable. Jason Schultz, one of the group's staff attorneys, said it was 'exactly what the RIAA should be doing.' And the RIAA seems to be moving more in that direction, having just recently hired the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives department (ATF) as the new leader of its anti-piracy unit.

For more info, check out LA Weekly.
"