Dogs Trained to Sniff Out Piracy

RockDoctor writes "Northern Ireland has for decades been using sniffer dogs to detect bombs and bomb-making materials. According to the BBC, a dog trainer in the Province has trained two dogs to sniff out some of the chemicals used in the manufacture of optical discs. While this has an obvious risk of false positives (polycarbonate plastics and their associated plasticizer additives are used in many other industries, for example), it does seem to be effective at locating discs which are not declared in customs manifests, and doing so much faster than human inspection of the cargo can do."

Workaround

[Mr_eX9]

Fly with your external hdd to transport your piracy overseas.

Dog substance addiction

[flyingfsck]

Well, at least the dogs should not get addicted to plastics, like the drug sniffing dogs...

But.. but...

[mangu]

What if the dog gets interested in the content of the disk? [animal-sex.com]

Slippery slope

[deft]

First they do this... and then they train the dogs to sniff out the actual pirates.

Once these dogs have the secent of basement dwelling teenager with poor hygiene... it's all over.

RIAA is probably training them now. What exactly is the scent of p2p?

Re:Slippery slope

[MadUndergrad]

What exactly is the scent of p2p?

Rum.

animals are much more intelligent that we credit

[straponego]

We're constantly learning that animals can accomplish feats we've been too arrogant to suspect them of: reasoning, memory, abstract concepts, tool use, eleven dimensional bee dances... and now, these dogs can determine, through scent alone, whether bits are pirated or legitimately owned.

Incredible.

Of course it does!

[EmbeddedJanitor]

The sniffer dog is trained by a trainer who eats fast food which is served by a waitress who has a boyfriend with a computer connected to the internet.

Argh, ye matey, and yer poochie too!

[Zarf]

Arr, thar be no pirates aboard me ship. She be yar and she be true as spit shine as all me laddies. Ye nay be needin' th' poochie here cap'n. Wha? Why tha' be chemicals fer me special scurvy cream. I swar I ne'er heard o' no Day-vee-day piratein' They be like gold bar? Arr! L'emme go ye scalliwags! Ye, canna keel haul a-man fer youst ha'in chemicals fer the scurvy! I swar ser it's medicinal! Don' let 'em lock me in thar brig! I did'na heard no Day-vee-day pirates! Dis is per-poster-mos!

Poor Long Burn Silver Disc we never saw him again.

Re:animals are much more intelligent that we credi

[tehSpork]

At least it's better than the magic 8 ball method the RIAA seems to have been using. :)

Who needs dogs to sniff out pirates?

[Dachannien]

The filthy beggars ne'er get a wash. A man can sniff 'em out himself at thirty fathoms!

Wouldn't it be easier ......

[edwardpickman]

to train them to sniff out films and music that smell bad? A single copy of The Wickerman remake can be smelled by a human with a head cold at a hundred yards. A good bloodhound should be able to sniff out a box of them from the next county.

Re:But.. but...

[Anonymous Coward]

But as long as its a male dog (if you're female) or a female dog (if you're male) then it's not as sick as man on man sex.

Re:Dog substance addiction

[LibertarianWackJob]

You knew the job (reading /.) was dangerous when you took it.

Re:Dog substance addiction

[MillionthMonkey]

Drug sniffing dogs are addicted to plastic?

The credit card industry is really making irresponsible loans these days. There's no way these dogs make enough money to cover all the treats they'll buy if they're given half a chance preapproved with a 0% teaser rate.

Re:But.. but...

[Evilest Doer]

But as long as its a male dog (if you're female) or a female dog (if you're male) then it's not as sick as man on man sex.

Rick Santorum! I didn't know you posted on slashdot! Welcome! How is life as an ex-Senator?

Re:Workaround

[Jozer99]

My dog can already sniff out Body Odor, Ramen noodles and Hotpockets, the three indicators of major piracy (and WoW) and I haven't even trained her! How is this a big deal!?!