It appears the MPAA is focusing their new wave of attacks against the folks that bring camcorders into movie theaters rather than the legions of downloaders. This is where thethey should have always had their focus, if you “nip it in the bud” you will start to win some battles. We get the news about the MPAA’s new plan of attack from the news masters of Variety:
The Motion Picture Assn. of America and the National Assn. of Theater Owners announced on Thursday a joint effort to remind would-be bootleggers that camcording in a cinema is a federal offense that could bring jail time as well as a $250,000 penalty. NATO-member theaters will display a pair of posters containing this warning. Both resemble movie posters.One ominously reads: “Lights. Camera. Busted.” The other: “Leave Your Camera at Home. Do Not Record in this Theatre.”
“More than 90% of newly released movies that end up on the Internet or in street markets around the world can be sourced to a single illegally camcorded movie from a movie theater,” said MPAA topper Dan Glickman in a statement. “With these posters, we want to remind would-be camcord thieves that they can face serious consequences for engaging in this illegal activity and remind moviegoers to report any suspicious activity to theater management.”
I think this renewed focus is strategically superior and a lot more fan friendly. I simply do not know how successful posters will be as a deterrent to professional pirates. I am pretty sure people who pirate are aware that they are criminals and have determined that the reward is worth the risk, so I think they may collect these posters and put them in their bedrooms for fun.
At least the MPAA seems to have shifted its focus from internet users and onto the source of the pirated material. Perhaps they will start to send film rangers to different theaters to be on the lookout for pirates. I hope this is the beginning of the end of lawsuits that target kids in high school.
