When I first read about this over at Brian J's (crappy Blogger permalink no worky) I thought it was a joke. Apparently not, reports LA Weekly:

Though no guns were brandished, the bust from a distance looked like classic LAPD, DEA or FBI work, right down to the black "raid" vests the unit members wore. The fact that their yellow stenciled lettering read "RIAA" instead of something from an official law-enforcement agency was lost on 55-year-old parking-lot attendant Ceasar Borrayo. [...]

"They said they were police from the recording industry or something, and next time they'd take me away in handcuffs," he said through an interpreter. [...]

The RIAA acknowledges it all - except the notion that its staff presents itself as police. Yes, they may all be ex-P.D. Yes, they wear cop-style clothes and carry official-looking IDs. But if they leave people like Borrayo with the impression that they're actual law enforcement, that's a mistake.

Yes, the Recording Industry Ass. of America has resorted to FBI style police raids. This one happened out on the street where there is a little more lattitude, but how long before they start pounding on doors and demanding entry? If it does go that far, my guess is that they'll test the waters in places like "gun free" New York, rather Alabama or Texas.

Of course as Mr. Noggle points out, this only serves to dilute the effectiveness of the real police force.

If a citizen's got a bunch of surly looking men with dark vests bearing an acronym ending in A standing on his property and acting menacing, he's got to wonder if they're surly looking men with dark vests bearing an acronym ending in A who are illegal trespassers whom he can shoot or if they're surly looking men with dark vests bearing an acronym ending in A bearing legal warrants. Does law enforcement win whenever it puts someone who guesses wrong into the ground? Hardly.

My guess is that it'll never get that far. The police won't stand for someone cutting in on their action for too long. They already don't take too kindly to rogue citizens driving around with blue lights fastened to their car. Just because you don't explicitly say you're a cop, doesn't mean you can go around pulling people over.