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BPI’s former head of anti- piracy David Wood is now under police investigation.
BPI members account for 85 percent of all music sold in the UK, according to the trade group. And you may be familiar with their aggressive war on piracy.
Now, Torrentfreak — a torrent- and piracy-focused publication — has confirmed that the BPI’s former head of anti-piracy, David Wood, is under police investigation.
David’s history
Wood was a 15-year veteran of the West Yorkshire police, eventually elevating to the rank of detective. Soon afterwards, he began to work at BPI, where he spent 13 years. Then, at the time of his ouster, Wood was Director of Copyright.
The BPI role found Wood speaking to the media about the significance of anti-piracy. In addition to highlighting the consequences, Wood may have been orchestrating clandestine ‘financial piracy’ of his own.
Plot Twist!
It turns out that one of the world’s top anti-piracy enforcers was also a gigantic hypocrite. BPI now accuses Wood of misappropriating funds before his dismal in 2015.
The specific allegations against Wood are currently unknown. However, Torrentfreak sources indicate that this involves large sums of money. Possibly, six figures sums of money.
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The BPI has now responded to the allegations, confirming an active investigation is underway.
“We can confirm that a former employee, David Wood, was dismissed for gross misconduct in December 2015. BPI has referred that matter to the Metropolitan Police who are investigating. As investigations are ongoing, it would not be appropriate to comment in any more details at this stage.”
Is he guilty?
Who doesn’t appreciate a good, juicy ‘good cop turned bad’ story? But this might have been seriously corrupt. Now, evidence suggests that Wood may have used his knowledge on piracy to benefit himself. As part of the investigation, determinations will be made as to what levels of profit Wood was earning in exchange for selective piracy enforcement.
Stay tuned.
This isn’t about selective enforcement so it’s probably best not to speculate in that direction.
Woods liked to spend artists money on himself.
” BPI now accuses Wood of misappropriating funds before his dismal in 2015.”
Know what else is dismal? The writing.
Wood was put into bankruptcy in 2017 by the bpi. This will be an interesting story to follow. I for one will be very interested to see the outcome. Hopefully he will be charged and destroyed financially