According to this article in today's Infoshop News, the Recording Artists Association of America has been hiring former police officers in their effort to crack down on piracy. Working in teams of four, the RIAA enforcement squads have been approaching sidewalk vendors in Los Angeles that have tables or blankets laid out with CDs, almost certainly counterfeit, and demanding that the vendor surrender the wares. According to John Langely, a coordinator for the RIAA's Anti-Piracy Unit, the squads, dressed in uniform and carrying ticket books, has been sufficient in 80% of the cases to convince the vendor into turning over their products and sign affidavits detailing the seizure. The targets of this crackdown have been predominantly Latino, and are allegedly influenced by the official looking appearance of the RIAA teams. While the RIAA has every right to enforce their rights under the law, they must remain careful to avoid looking too much like actual officers of the law, a practice that civil-libertarians and the LAPD alike would frown upon.