posted 06-22-2004 02:06 PM                       

I'm turning everyone in!!!!



http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040622/media_nm/film_piracy_dc_3

quote:

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Entertainment - Reuters Industry

Hollywood Offers $500 Bounty for Movie Bootleggers

Tue Jun 22, 4:43 AM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters Industry to My Yahoo!

By Nicole Sperling

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The U.S. movie industry is enlisting theater employees to help combat piracy, offering a reward of up to $500 for every person they catch illegally recording films and report to the police.

The Anti-Camcording Rewards Program was unveiled Monday by the Motion Picture Assn. of America (MPAA), which represents the major studios, and the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO (news - web sites)).

Camcording has become a very potent source of piracy. A great majority of the films that show up on the Internet for download are a result of camcorders, according to MPAA spokesman Matt Grossman.

Typically, according to the MPAA, movies are filmed by camcorder during the first few days of their U.S. release, then distributed in digital form worldwide on file-sharing networks and other online outlets. Overseas labs then use the pirated films to create illegal DVDs, which are distributed en masse on street corners around the world.

In 2003, the MPAA seized 52 million discs worldwide with an estimated cost of $3.5 billion.

The MPAA is funding the program. The reward amount is up to the MPAA's discretion and is based on several factors, such as whether the suspect was apprehended and the timing of the piracy in relation to the movie's release.

"Theater employees are increasingly vigilant about individuals who surreptitiously set up camcorders in their theaters," NATO president John Fithian said. "This program will give every theater worker added incentive to take action against pirates and help protect our industry from this scourge."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

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posted 06-22-2004 02:10 PM                    

quote: Dennis Benjamin

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A great majority of the films that show up on the Internet for download are a result of camcorders, according to MPAA spokesman Matt Grossman

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posted 06-22-2004 08:19 PM                 

quote: Brad Miller

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...old coot Valenti...

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posted 06-28-2004 12:19 AM                       

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funny... in the article they don't reference on how to collect the bounty. maybe we are supposed to sell the video recorder that we confiscate!

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Sure they do. It states right there that if you find a bootlegger, you can make $3.5 billion.

Isn't there some sort of infrared flood light that can be projected onto the screen that would be invisible to the audience, but wash out any digital camcorder image in a bright white haze? I've noticed that I can see my remote controls LED when I take a digital picture of it.

-Adam