Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Projectionists Using Night Vision Goggles in Theaters

Posted by michael on from the sneak-and-peek dept.

sam0ht writes "Los Angeles police arrested Ruben Centero Moreno, 34, after the projectionist used night vision goggles to spot his video camera in a showing of The Alamo. He has been charged under the new California anti-camcorder law, and could face up to 1 year in jail if convicted. The BBC reports that 'The MPAA has established a nationwide telephone hotline for cinema employees to report violations, and studios and cinemas are also investing in metal detectors and night-vision goggles'. Motion Picture Ass. Head Jack Valenti said he hoped it would 'send a clear signal such crimes will not be tolerated'. Clearly, the 'War on Copyright Violation' is following the successful strategy used for the War on Drugs, with significant resources of technology and police time mobilised to send violators to jail for a long time. Soon, copied films will be as rare as students lighting up a joint after their exams." The lesson is clear: stay out of movie theaters and you won't get arrested.

2 of 1,080 comments (clear)

  1. Maybe offtopic and too late, but... by thung226 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The MPAA has to have the worst website I've ever seen. The flash intro alone is just pathetic.

    I could write a better website during my lunch hour.

    --
    -n-
  2. The difference by randall_burns · · Score: 3, Offtopic
    Outsourcing and predatory immigration policies like H-1b have their roots in corporate welfare. Even pro-business, pro-immigration economists like Nobel prize winner Milton Friedman call the 1998-2000 expansion of H-1b a "subsidy". I well know the experience of having my congressman, Brian Baird, supported my having an extended period of unemployment on a basis of principle-he has been a strong supporter of H-1b--even though his district has some of the worse unemployment in the nation(hint: Microsoft-a company not in his district is his biggest financial supporter).


    The original constitutional reason for copyrights and patents was to support "THE PROGRESS OF SCIENCE AND USEFUL ARTS"--not to protect the creation of what the great Ralph Nader calls "violent corporate sponsored pornography".


    I don't opposed government subsidies of "science and the useful arts"--if done on a basis that is fair and democratic --promoting technological development that creates the kind of advancements and culture much of the population wants. What Hollywood wants goes beyond free speech, or subsized technical advancements, Hollywood wants active government support of privately owned, corporate managed social control mechanisms. Given the fact that since protection of these mechanisms has intensified the last 40 years, we've seen a signficant drop in things like disposable income, and an increase in economic inequality, IMHO it is high time we use what political rights we have left and seriously look for alternatives here.