The Pirates of Osan
p2pnet.net news special:- Charles N. Haid currently resides in South Korea. Haid isn’t his real name but, he tells p2pnet, it’s close enough so that if he ever wants to properly identify himself, the connection will be evident.
He’d been reading our accounts of how the members of the Big 4 Organized Music gang are terrorizing their own customers, turning the music industry into even more of a wholly self-serving enterprise than it is already.
And he was particularly moved by the plight of Patti Santangelo and her children, wondering why Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, weren’t dedicating all of their massive resources to nailing the real villains in the piece, the counterfeit criminals, organized and amateur, who are fast becoming as rich as the labels themselves as they ply their illicit trades in underground black markets and street corners around the world.
Instead, as he emphasises, not just the labels, but also the major Hollywood studios, are seriously dividing their resources as they attack innocent and helpless men and women, and even children, whom they accuse of being “thieves” and “criminals” guilty of the non-existent crime of file sharing.
But he wasn’t merely expressing general disgust. He had something very specific to say about what he describes as the extensive and ongoing illegal sale in Songtan in South Korea of almost everything imaginable that can be counterfeited such as designer clothes and watches, like the ones in the pic below, photographed on a stall trading openly in the city’s streets.
Counterfeit movie DVDs are also prime items, he says.
‘Tons of other goods and services’
Haid is, he says, associated,”with the highest levels” of leadership at the American Osan Air Base fighter wing in South Korea. Some 48 miles south of the DMZ, it’s the most forward deployed permanently-based wing in the US Air force and is, “charged with providing mission ready Airmen to execute combat operations and receive follow-on forces,” says its site. “Our wing with its 24 PAA, F-16 and A-10 squadrons, along with a C-12 airlift flight and a myriad of base support agencies conducts the full spectrum of missions providing for the defense of the Republic of Korea.”
Songtan City is, “just outside the gate and is the most popular shopping and night life area for Americans stationed or living at Osan Air Base,” says an online guide. “Excellent deals can be found on custom-made suits, unit coins and plaques and tons of other goods and services. Check out the interactive map for businesses downtown.”
According to Haid, the ‘other goods and services’ include counterfeits of all kinds and, “Many months ago, I documented much of this activity and e-mailed every company and association which might be interested (such as Rolex, Coach, Chanel, RIAA, MPAA, etc.),” he declared.
Why tell p2pnet? Because, said Haid, he’d given up trying to expose the dealings through normal accepted channels and detailed letters.
It was time to go public. “There are many American civilian contractors who support the military in everything from network admin to airplane repair,” he told us. “It is important for me to do my part in ending the corruption here, and it can’t be done fighting it head-on.”
Action against digital piracy’
Piracy used to chiefly mean robbery on the high seas. And to ‘counterfeit’ something was, and still is, to copy it, usually with the intent of re-selling it as the original with currency, art, and antiquities probably as the most popular counterfeit items.
Since the end of the 20th century, the entertainment and software cartels have been running a huge media campaign under which ‘piracy’ is now principally used to portray peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing as a deadly menace and a crime ranking with murder and rape, rather than as a means by which movies and music, among other things, are being handled in the digital 21st century.
According to Warner Music (US), EMI (Britain), Vivendi Universal (France and Sony BMG (Japan and Germany), the members of the Big Four Organized Music cartel, and Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, the Big Six Hollywood studios, their hundreds of millions of men, women and child customers around the world aren’t reasonable people looking for a fair return for their money. Rather, they’re all potential hard-case, hard-core copyright “thieves” and intellectual property “criminals”.
The cartels try to equate files shared with sales lost and routinely and regularly lump file sharers together with ‘pirates,’ or counterfeiters, as they used to be known.
There is, of course, absolutely no relationship between the two. Counterfeiting is a crime, and no doubt about it. Sharing is, though, merely sharing. No money changes hands. No one is deprived of something he or she used to own. And it’s never been demonstrated that a file shared equals a sale lost.
Nonetheless, that’s the assertion as the corporate entertainment industries relentlessly sue their own customers in a desperate attempt to control how, and by whom, movies and music are distributed online.
They say file sharing represents a Number One problem for economies around the world.
However, HavocScope puts marijuana at the top of its ‘illicits’ list, with an estimated value of $141.80 billion. Next are counterfeit technology products, then drugs (cocaine, #3, opium/heroin, #4), ‘pirated’ web videos, counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs, ‘pirated’ software, human trafficking, amphetamines/meth, and animal and wildlife smuggling.
‘Pirated’ movies are way down the list at #11, and worth an estimated $18.2 billion, and finally, at an estimated $4.5 billion, music is number 21.
‘Excellent deals can be found’
The South Korean economy is now the 10th largest (nominal value) in the world, says Wikipedia. One of the world’s most technologically advanced and digitally-connected countries with the second highest broadband Internet connections per capita among OECD countries, and a global leader in electronics, digital displays, shipbuilding and mobile phones, South Korea is also a place where counterfeiting is rampant, putting it in the #8 “illicit market” spot in the Asia Region, according to HavocScope.
“Pirated” software is worth $255.8 million, video games, $415.1 million, books, $43 million, movies, $40 million and music, $1.3 million, it says.
“Korea’s theatrical sector is booming,” said Variety last August. “In 2005, the market passed Germany to become the world’s fifth-biggest at close to $900 million, and in the first half of 2006, it saw a further 29% growth in admissions. But parallelling [sic] the dilemma in some European countries, the DVD sector has shown virtually no growth in the past four years. This year, Universal and Paramount decided to abandon the market, and all signs point toward further decline.”
There are, “many reasons for the weakness of DVD in Korea,” the story has Peter Woo, managing director of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, saying. “We’ve been working hard to turn things around, but it’s been difficult.” And most frequently cited as the cause of the stunted growth in Korea is piracy, says Variety, going on:
“With some of the fastest broadband connections in the world, capable of downloading a DVD-quality feature film in 30 minutes, a widespread downloading culture has emerged among young Koreans. At the same time, the government has turned a blind eye to scores of vendors selling pirated DVDs in subway stations and on street corners throughout Seoul.”
‘Military regulations‘
“The United States Air Force at Osan Air Base in Songtan, South Korea, is openly allowing American service members to purchase counterfeit goods, DVDs and pirated computer/console software from carts and shops located outside the main gate,” Charles told p2pnet. He went on:
Leadership’s excuse is that they cannot enforce Korean law. It is, however, within their power to put these places off-limits to American service members but they don’t (due to corruption among some members of senior leadership).
Many months ago, I documented much of this activity and e-mailed every company and association which might be interested (such as Rolex, Coach, Channel, RIAA, MPAA, etc). I only got one reply that they would “look into it” and that was after a second e-mail.
After that, nothing. Nobody has shown any interest in following up on my allegations (and photos).
All of the counterfeit hot lines seem to be only for show.
I am disgusted how they will hassle normal people yet do nothing in a situation where simply bringing public attention will stop an organized commercial counterfeit operation.
The Air Force could quickly put it all off-limits to reduce publicity and without customers, the counterfeiters would go out of business.
Confirming my allegations requires next to no effort. The open sales of counterfeit and pirated goods aren’t hidden and they go on from around noon until late at night on the main street in Songtan.
All ranks openly purchase these goods and do so in front of “town patrol”.
Military regulations are quite clear in their requirements to place establishments off-limits which engage in illegal activity.
Yet nothing is done. And none of the anti-piracy/anti-counterfeiting organizations such as the MPAA and RIAA seem to care.
p2pnet asked Charles if it would be possible to get pictures of counterfeiting sales and over ensuing weeks, he obliged, saying, “The shocking part is that EVERYBODY knows about this. It’s not hidden. Counterfeit goods are sold openly. There are at least three carts and a couple of stores selling copied DVDs with a TV and a DVD player so you can test them.
“Some are original promo copies of newly released movies and some are recorded in a theater with a camcorder.”
‘NO fear’
Why is this allowed to continue in the face of loud and continuing protests from both the US trade office and the cartels?
“I have a couple of friends who are American club owners,” says Charles. “I get a lot of gossip from Korean friends who talk to the Korean club owners. Many lower-ranking officers have an idea about what is going on, are angry and will talk over beer.
“They will complain but they will not sacrifice their career by taking any action.
“The Korean businesses which engage in illegal activities have NO fear because they control Osan Air Base leadership’s actions toward “downtown”.Officers at Osan do a two-year tour. The Korean businesses have been here for decades.
“They know every trick to getting the base to do whatever they want. There are hundreds of things they do but some of them are:
1 Political pressure. The local “business association” has close, long-term relationships with Korean military leaders. American officers on a two-year tour will do anything to avoid a bad recommendation from a Korean officer. There is no gain by attacking a system that has gone unchanged since the Korean war.
2 Careerism. “A good tour at Osan is an uneventful tour at Osan.” Officers are faced with ignoring what is going on and moving on to their next base or making a big stink, losing their career and still having nothing happen. The business association knows this and brings attention to anyone who might want to “destroy the friendly relationship between the United States military and their host nation”.
3 Relationship building. Somehow, all the business association leaders have base passes. They play golf with leadership to “build community relations”. They buy dinners, trips and gifts. It makes it difficult to put a business off-limits if the owner is your golfing buddy, takes you out to expensive dinners and arranges a shopping trip for the officer wives. As long as no outside attention is coming, it is better to pretend he isn’t doing anything illegal.
4 Family relationships. For some reason, Osan always has a number of senior officers in positions of responsibility who have Korean wives. These wives are frequently related to local business owners. There is massive social pressure for the wives to guide their husbands to make decision which benefit the local business community.
5 Bribes. Payoffs are made to some members of Osan leadership to insure cooperation. Then they are owned. Other officers know or suspect what is going on but they will lose their career if they get involved. There is a “protect the Air Force” mentality and ratting out a senior officer might get a public thanks but will certainly be a career-ender. There are people who will deny some of this but the best proof is that open illegal actions are still going on even when the base is directly informed about them.
We heard from Charles again today. He says he understands the US Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General, is now looking into the situation at Osan.
Stay tuned.
Jon Newton – p2pnet
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January 3rd, 2007 at 12:13 am
THESE are the REAL PIRATES! But the RIAA or MPAA does not have the BALLS to go after them!
They instead focous on people they KNOW they can bully. Why do you think they dropped the case against Patti Santiangelo so quickly? I think it was because she decided to fight rather than rollover and play dead.
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:49 am
Here it is seen where the true pirates are. These are the ones selling openly to the public without fear of facing any sort of punishment. Normally when it comes to the surface here’s how its’ played.
The Korean government will be presented with a notice of sorts, in private of course, that the present situation can’t continue. They will have to clean up their act and do something. Next a very hush hush operation will be set up to go bust those businesses that the Korean government will pick as targets. The part that isn’t hush hush is that those merchants in the know either won’t be in business that day or they won’t be selling what ever it is the bust is after, ie infringement materials. Once the “task force” has done its job and went home, everyone but the few targets will be back to business as usual. Those materials they were after will magically reappear on the shelves as everything goes back to normal. This has been played time and again in various Asian countries.
The official channels will trumpet that they have shut down X dollars at over inflated prices, the Koreans will be patted on the back as doing the right thing in supporting anti-counterfeit controls and not in danger of violating WTO polices, the military will cover up any involvement that might surface as looking inappropriate (that is unless they have a sacrificial scapegoat to offer that’s been a thorn in some way with either the high ups or with the locals) the merchants in good standing with payoffs will go back to doing business as usual. End of the story.
Then the lapdogs of the cartels will be right back at business as usual also and continue to go after sharers with no financial motives and use statutory penalties that don’t apply and were never designed with these sorts purposes in mind. Nor were these penalties ever designed to cover the losses of digital materials that have no where near the amount of loss as claimed. It is one of the main reasons why you will never, ever, see the **AAs claim actual losses incurred and why they chose civil instead of criminal court to run this scam on the public. In civil court they don’t have to prove “beyond a shadow of a doubt” they only have to prove it could have been possible.
With the current atmosphere of legal shinanaggins it is no wonder that the public opinion of the cartels is rapidly plummeting in a free fall. With the added dubious benefits of DRM included, it is no longer a product that anyone really wants.
Cd sales are nose diving. They aren’t going to be coming back. The public has lost its love affair with the shiny holographic disc. It’s true worth is now know as to the actual cost of making one and it is further degraded in value by the idea that anyone with a computer can make their own. Just as home taping showed that the cartels were no longer in charge of distribution and the only source so has home burning shown the same.
January 3rd, 2007 at 2:17 am
Nice story but, I hate to tell u that those stationed in South Korea are not alone when it comes to buying counterfeit goods. When I was in the Gulf I was certainly not alone in buying the latest CDs and DVDs for little more than a buck or two.
Its like that for servicemen and women all over the world, and it touches on other taboo subjects like brothels and underage drinking.
Putting american greenbacks in the pockets of locals is always a good policy, thats why commands dont care if their personnel scoop up some bootleg DVDs or CDs. It keep people happy, and if the people are happy, the host country is happy.
Why rock the boat because Britney Spears isnt getting a cut?
The military is a life worlds apart from its civilian cousin.
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:19 am
To suggest that the RIAA/MPAA don’t do anything about real piracy is not accurate. After all, think of allofmp3.com. Legal or not, the industry is suing them, and sooner or later, all of mp3 will be shut down. While nothing seems to be done for South Korea at the moment, that does not mean the entertainment industry only sues p2p users.
January 3rd, 2007 at 6:25 am
Amen brother!
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:07 am
Yeah the same thing happens here in Kuwait, except that I don’t buy their crap, but they’re still making tons of money off american soldiers.
January 3rd, 2007 at 11:48 pm
This is crazy. I live in Songtan – and yes this happens. What Mr Haid fails to mention is that open pricary like this happens EVERYWHERE in the ROK!
USFK is not even a fraction of the buyers to these establishments! Even if the USFK would ban sales from these places – they would continue to thrive in markets that cater to the local populace!
This in turn would force a servicemember to venture further away from the safety net around base – into less pro-USFK territory – to purchase these goods!
Haid failed to point this out. Why? I don’t know. Also, if you think Korea is the ‘hub’ of copywrite piracy – guess again – it happens WORLDWIDE – cause other countries could care less about profits going to American businesses.
To recap:
1. Americans in Korea are NOT the majority purchasing these items!
2. Korea is not the sole country who could care less about US copywrite laws!
January 4th, 2007 at 1:13 am
It is not just servicemen buying these counterfeit goods. holidaymakers just love a bargain, and can pick up the same goods on street markets in just about every popular holiday resort in europe. I know, cos i have bought a few!
January 4th, 2007 at 3:19 am
I am in the Air Force posted at Osan. I have seen all the piracy off base. The poster makes it look like its all the military’s fault. It’s infact the South Koreans that buy the most fake goods. The problem is that it’s hard to catch most of the people that sell pirated DVDs and CDs. They don’t keep any copies on hand they either send runners on mopeds or they make a copy right there. They can’t really be charged for having original DVDs for sale or for having a stack of blank DVDs. They do end up raiding those shops about once a week. It doesn’t help because they don’t have anything illegal on hand. They do try do shut them down or post them off-limits. They just close the store or move and change the name. The only real way to stop it is to confine all service members to base. I really don’t think the South Korean government would like us near as much if we couldn’t defend them or spend money around town. I just think the poster is a pissed off Master Sergeant they got up on the wrong side of the bed.
January 4th, 2007 at 6:14 am
Well that is fine, but they should not go after 14 year old KIDS that have done nothing but share files without making a dime if they are going to be fair about it.
For the industry to accuse people downloading songs and DVDs of piracy and THEN turn around and let the real pirating get off with a slap on the wrist is unfair, period.
January 4th, 2007 at 6:16 am
Really? Then why don’t they go after THE REAL PIRATES FIRST? and THEN go after whoever is left? That would be more fair than the way they do things now.
January 4th, 2007 at 6:21 am
that is also fine, BUT WHY do the cartels insist that a 14 year old girl is a pirate even though she makes NO profit of any kind from files she shares and then seemingly do nothing to stop the real ones that are making a killing off of pirated content everyday? That is my point.
January 4th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Haid doesn’t say it’s the hub. He says it’s something he’s been personally trying to do something about and failed.
January 4th, 2007 at 8:44 pm
Am I the only one who got the point?
1. Sales of a major for-profit pirating operation can be easily shut down in Songtan if the United States Air Force follows regulations and places illegal establishments off-limits to American servicemembers.
2. This has NOTHING to do with Korea or Korean law. This is about corruption in the United States Air Force at Osan Air Base which refuses to give American servicemembers a lawful order to avoid businesses which engage in illegal activities
3. The MPAA does not have the will, or the power, to take the simple actions necessary to force the publicity-sensitive United States military to follow it’s own regulations to insure servicemembers do not commit illegal acts.
4. The MPAA will not take any action to stop an organized and open pirating operation which has been documented and handed to them. They will go after children and senior citizens for not-for-profit file sharing yet will not bring any action or publicity to organized pirating rings which can be stopped world-wide by the order of a single Pentagon general.
January 4th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
I live in Songtan, too. On the main street in front of the base, almost all customers are military.
If these places were put off-limits, they would go out of business. This applies to all the clubs with the Filipina hookers that are locked up at night. The corruption angle of this article is valid. Osan is protecting a lot of dirty stuff downtown. Remember the town patrol scandal last year? Google: Jason Davis Osan
Korea and Japan are two of the safest countries in the world. The only Korea/servicemember violence that occurs is when drunk GIs beat up on taxi drivers.
To recap:
1. Americans in Songtan ARE the majority purchasing these items!
2. Other country’s position on US copyright law has nothing to do with this article.
January 4th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
You are kidding me! Have you even been to Osan? Everything is geared toward American GIs.
The pirated DVDs are not the military’s fault. Allowing American servicemembers to commit a crime is the military’s fault.
They can’t be charged for having origional DVDs? You mean the ones on DVD-R of movies that haven’t been released yet that are obviously taken in a theater with a camcorder? Can anybody think they are origional?
They raid these shops once a week? Mikey got raided 3 times because he wouldn’t pay protection. He couldn’t afford to restock and somebody took over his space in front of Burger King. Everybody else has remained unchanged for at least a year.
Who tries to shut them down or put them off-limits? Only Korean law enforcement can shut them down. This won’t happen. Osan can easily say, “American servicemembers must follow American law, Korean law and the UCMJ, and are restricted from buying illegally copied DVDs and other counterfeit products.” They don’t do it.
Confine everyone to base? I don’t know about your Air Force, sir, but in my Air Force, leadership can give an order that will be followed. It sounds to me like we have a Master Sergeant that is pissed off that his Air Force is a little too cozy with Korean corruption.
January 5th, 2007 at 1:40 am
Easily shut down? Well last I checked the other guy was right they do change their names frequently and don’t have any “illegal content” right around! You are talking about the Air Force corruption, well then get out if you don’t like the way America is run. OH WAIT you wont, because you know that a little fake DVD or fake Rolex is a little better than being killed or starving to death. I don’t completly agree with piracy, but please stop complaining about the country that protects you!
January 5th, 2007 at 7:10 am
1. Air Force off-limits is based on the location, not the name. Further, like barber shops and pharmacies, DVD carts can be placed under a blanket off-limits regardless of name.
2. A movie that has not yet been released on DVD which has been filmed with a camcorder and is available for test viewing before purchase is most probably “illegal content”. Are you suggesting a shop which sells DVDs for $5 each sells only legal content?
3. Exposing and removing corruption within the Air Force does not hurt America. It strengthens it. Your attitude of protecting or denying corruption at the expense of freedom of speech, especially when presented in a clear, reasonable and factual manner, brings questions to your judgment and motivations; as well as your patriotism.
4. Your attitude that I won’t get out of the Air Force because it is better than starving to death certainly falls in line with recent comments by some politicians that people are in the military because they are uneducated and have no opportunities on the outside. That may apply to you but it does not apply to the majority of hard-working airmen who have a greater degree of training, experience and discipline than many civilian workers in a similar job.
January 5th, 2007 at 12:22 pm
The point, to me anyway, was that the industry is going after people who haven’t done anything wrong and who can’t defend themselves instead of going after the people who have.
January 5th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
EXACTLY! If the MPAA or RIAA really had GUTS, they would go after people like these who make a killing off of pirated CD’s and DVD’s.
But they don’t…so the cartels look like fools whose only intrest is to bully people they know they can bully.
January 5th, 2007 at 9:37 pm
January 7th, 2007 at 1:34 am
I see this whole thing differently.
If this american in a foreign country doesn’t like what he see’s, then he can either quit, leave, resign, get tranfered or go AWOL. His choice. Meanwhile he can stop crying like a baby about it. whaaaaa they can have pirate copies and we can’t whaaaa.
Next thing you know this cry-baby will come to canada and raise another stink. Whaaa its legal there to download pirated MP3’s and i don’t like it cuz i am american and i can’t do it. Whaaaaa.
he should go wipe his nose and quit his job.
January 7th, 2007 at 8:09 pm
Is it just me or does this story have two points?
1. One yes the Mafia should go after the real pirates instead of children.
2. Yet another way to make the military look bad.
This story is all about how the solders they defend your rights (what little hasn’t been taking away by laws like the DCMA) look like the cause of all the problems. The base has tried to stop it.
You can look at if like if they said that no personal can drink any alcohol year round. Yea they could say that they are the most forward base in the Air Force any they shouldn’t drink all. That will cause is a hell of alot of people getting kicked out for drinking because it won’t stop happening.
Also what is the base going to say don’t by fake stuff off base? I don’t know about the rest of you but i can’t tell if most of those things are fake. Yea a DVD for $5 is fake but they look real other then the price. Those watches look real to me also. What can you tell people? Don’t look for deals? Only buy stuff online or at the BX?
Yea I see the point the cartels should go after the real pirates first but give the people that die for you a little slack. It seems like the writer got a bad rating or is about to leave the base so he wants to get people back. Nice revenge also makes the military look bad and the MPAA/RIAA just remember these people die for you and all for under 20,000 a year.
Yea I understand that alot of people that read this aren’t from the states. But from what people tell me it isn’t just the US troops that buy this stuff anyone that passes through or is near there goes for the cheap stuff.
Good job making the US military look like shit!
January 8th, 2007 at 2:24 am
I have been in the AF for 18 years. I am at Osan now. I think this made the AF look bad but I agree with what it said especially the reasons at the end. Osan is not like other bases in the AF and it doesn’t represent the real AF. There is definitely something dirty between Osan and organized crime here. I had to sit through all that crap on prostitution and human trafficking then I went downtown and saw town patrol ignoring human trafficking and prostitution. I’m not stupid. Something is not right. There is big money coming off Osan. Enforcement would be hard if it was hidden but letting my airmen break the law right there in front of everybody does not represent the core values of my AF. It doesn’t matter if it is for a dvd or for my married airmen paying the ticket for the juicy girls. I don’t like articles that make the AF look bad but I don’t like a bad AF either. If this is what it takes to clean up this mess I will accept it with no blame to the writer for telling the truth. The AF should act so that no bad thing can be said about it. I don’t think people should steal movies but the MPAA needs to stop these pirates before causing trouble for regular people. I don’t know why they go after children but won’t ask the AF to put these places off limits. No matter what is happening here Osan has to follow orders.
Sergeant ROK
January 8th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
good going Chucky I’m sure the entertainment industry will award you a silver star on the “walk a thon” adjacent to the DMZ
If you think the USAF isn’t do a good job policing the area I suggest you open this file and see an article from Stars and Stripes on where to get the best knockoff deals in Europe./Users/jackhoffman/Desktop/Stars and stripes.Bargain Town cheap knockoffs.pdf March 7th 2006-
Also I’m area is luxury goods since they seem to attact the most attention– In any case just look at LMVH’s profits last year– Better percentage wise than the oil industries–
January 9th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
This guy is just trying to stir up trouble for Osan AB because they shut down his 2 illegal bars (Chickenhead Labs) just outside of Osan and Camp Humphries.
January 10th, 2007 at 12:14 am
I missed the point again? I agree with the people below me and my initial statement! You are pissed at something that happened, and if you want them to make the “location” off-limits then lets all think, let just make EVERYTHING in Korea off-limits, since every town and city has illegal “content” everywhere! and I never said that they weren’t selling illegal copies, so stop trying to prove a point that almost everyone disagrees with. Stop complaining like I said about the American laws, you serve in this nation, so shut up.
January 10th, 2007 at 1:07 am
I have been in the AF for 18 years. I am at Osan now. I think this made the AF look bad but I agree with what it said especially the reasons at the end. Osan is not like other bases in the AF and it doesn’t represent the real AF. There is definitely something dirty between Osan and organized crime here. I had to sit through all that crap on prostitution and human trafficking then I went downtown and saw town patrol ignoring human trafficking and prostitution. I’m not stupid. Something is not right. There is big money coming off Osan. Enforcement would be hard if it was hidden but letting my airmen break the law right there in front of everybody does not represent the core values of my AF. It doesn’t matter if it is for a dvd or for my married airmen paying the ticket for the juicy girls. I don’t like articles that make the AF look bad but I don’t like a bad AF either. If this is what it takes to clean up this mess I will accept it with no blame to the writer for telling the truth. The AF should act so that no bad thing can be said about it. I don’t think people should steal movies but the MPAA needs to stop these pirates before causing trouble for regular people. I don’t know why they go after children but won’t ask the AF to put these places off limits. No matter what is happening here Osan has to follow orders.
Sergeant ROK
January 10th, 2007 at 1:10 am
So the pictures are all Photoshopped?
January 10th, 2007 at 4:11 am
well I don’t know about that…one article that not too many people are going to read is not going to do anything at all…so all it did from what you are saying is…nothing! oh wait besides make the air force look bad that is all! and you are wrong there is corruption in the air force anywhere, anywhere there is a airman buying ripped DVDs or fake watches then there is corruption. this will do nothing but make the air force look stupid and make it look like we don’t care about the laws of the country we protect.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:31 am
I concur. I to am at Osan and I think that all personnel should spend their tour confined to the confines of the base. This would prevent them from being exposed to illegal activities that occur off base.
January 11th, 2007 at 1:44 am
No, the writer is not military. He ran 2 bars outside of bases in Korea (Osan and Camp Humphries) that sold alcohol to minors, and provided a hiding place for military members who failed to return to base during curfew. As a result his bars were placed off-limits and since no self-respecting Korean would go in his places he had to close them down. He had been warned several times, but refused to meet standards. He has now made it his job to blame the US military for all criminal activity in Korea. When his bars were open and the base leadership was cracking down on prostitution and underage drinking his battle cry was “the US military has no juridiction off base”. Now his battle cry is “the US military won’t enforce laws off base”
January 11th, 2007 at 1:53 am
No, the writer is not military. He ran 2 bars outside of bases in Korea (Osan and Camp Humphries) that sold alcohol to minors, and provided a hiding place for military members who failed to return to base during curfew. As a result his bars were placed off-limits and since no self-respecting Korean would go in his places he had to close them down. He had been warned several times, but refused to meet standards. He has now made it his job to blame the US military for all criminal activity in Korea. When his bars were open and the base leadership was cracking down on prostitution and underage drinking his battle cry was “the US military has no juridiction off base”. Now his battle cry is “the US military won’t enforce laws off base”
January 11th, 2007 at 1:57 am
I’ll tell you why: Because Mr Haid (Chuck N. Haid, chickenhead, whatever) ran 2 bars called Chickenhead Labs) outside of bases in Korea (Osan and Camp Humphries) that sold alcohol to minors, and provided a hiding place for military members who failed to return to base during curfew. As a result his bars were placed off-limits and since no self-respecting Korean would go in his places he had to close them down. He had been warned several times, but refused to meet standards. He has now made it his job to blame the US military for all criminal activity in Korea. When his bars were open and the base leadership was cracking down on prostitution and underage drinking his battle cry was “the US military has no juridiction off base”. Now his battle cry is “the US military won’t enforce laws off base”
January 11th, 2007 at 2:07 am
I agree. Songtan should be off limits to US Military members. They have plenty of things on base to keep them busy during their 1 year tour.
January 11th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
this is funny!!! this is the full story
http://www.lostnomad.org/?p=3972#comments
haid is hitting back at military corruption and making the mpaa look like fools at same time. pretty convincing and funny I hope somebody official investigates what he says. lots of people hate him for attacking the military but nobody said he is wrong. I think some heads are going to roll in the air force over this.
December 19th, 2007 at 6:39 pm
This is some funny stuff. I’m here at Osan and I hang out at the bars, keep my eyes open and talk to a lot of people. I have a few comments on the other comments.
If anyone cares, copied DVDs, knock-off watches, chipped PlayStations/copied games, fake handbags, prostitutes and human trafficking of Filipina bargirls are all common knowledge and all in the open. You can see it the moment you walk out the main gate. ALL of the customers are American military with a few English teachers that come in to party on weekends. Nobody can deny this.
I haven’t seen anything for myself (except for town patrol being very friendly with many bargirls) but Korean bar owners verify that this all continues because of payoffs to bigwigs on Osan Air Base. I can believe this.
The MPAA, RIAA, etc., are still chasing the little guys instead of stopping this. It’s true. Osan puts a lot of stuff on blanket off-limits (barber shops and pharmacies were mentioned). They could do it for DVD carts. I honestly wonder why the MPAA hasn’t asked the Air Force in a friendly way to discourage buying copied DVDs and encourage buying real DVDs at the BX. Something isn’t right.
On the other hand, I haven’t paid to see a movie since I have been here and I no longer buy DVDs. Actually, I will never buy them again. Screw ‘em. If nobody cares, I’m going to suck it dry while I can.
January 19th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Dont forget about the “morale” drives that most over seas military bases use. These usually contain anywhere from 200-500 Gig of music, movies, games and other programs that any GI can access and download for their own use.
October 17th, 2008 at 6:34 am
This is pretty interesting. Right on the money.
I’m at Osan now. Nothing seems to have changed much. You have to ask to see the fake Rolex watches. Lots of pirate Xbox games now though. I guess MPAA and Microsoft don’t care. The Air Force doesn’t care. I don’t care.
The Chickenhead bar is legend around here in a good way. They weren’t illegal bars. They didn’t do illegal stuff. They just didn’t pay a bribe to a dirty Air Force cop and the base tried to cover it up. But there is lots of dirty stuff here. We just had a black marketing crackdown. Mostly they pestered GIs not to buy an extra case of beer and ignored the Koreans with cartloads of beef and rice. Good luck getting anyone to care about what goes on in Songtan unless the MPAA or somebody makes a stink and they think their career will get a boost by having a big crackdown.