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Arrest Under New NY Anti-Piracy Law
AxminsterLeuven writes "The BBC is carrying a story on new tightened New York anti-piracy legislation: A man has been arrested, after smuggling video recording equipment into a theater showing the new Transformers movie. 'Kalidou Diallo, 48, has been charged with unauthorized use of a video camera in a cinema. Under upgraded legislation, he could face six months in jail and fines of up to $5,000 (£2,487) if found guilty,' the BBC reports."
I wonder if he knew Amadou Diallo.
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We would get them sent to us when I was deployed to Iraq. Most of them were of laughable quality but it was the only way to see a new release.
New York legislators apparently consider production of grainy, shakey, muffled copies of Hollywood poo the moral equivalent of 2 oz. of pot. I thank God every day that our peerless statesmen are so responsive to these twin evils. It is common knowledge that copyright infringement is a gateway anti-social behavior, leading rapidly to contempt for authority, drug abuse, armed robbery, rape and murder, in that order.
illegitimii non ingravare
especially one that I could experience in a theater at a matinee showing for five to seven bucks.
Here's the thing: that doesn't apply to most people. It applies to most Americans, but in the rest of the world, this film won't be released for quite a while, and even if it was, in many places five to seven bucks is a huge amount of money. The pirates aren't competing with the cinemas, there's no competition for them at all. It's either get a pirated copy, or don't watch it.
Plus, maybe some people prefer low quality video and peace rather than high quality video and loads of kids running around screaming and throwing popcorn. I've only been to the cinema once in the USA, and it was a really weird experience. People cheered and stuff when things happened on the screen. That's really distracting and if it was the same over here in the UK, I'd never go to the cinema again. Is that usual, or was I just really unlucky?
I saw tons of new(ish) movies in Iraq. They were all being sold for $2-4 bucks for a DVD with 2-4 new(ish) releases by some random local in a wooden hut on the road near camp. In the meantime the MPAA and friends are chasing down 17yr olds to put them in jail...wonder why they don't go to Iraq and stop the piracy themselves. (Ignoring that Hillary Rosen was on the ground in Iraq in the very very early days begging the new Iraqi government to adopt her proposals on copyright...yeah...they need help with food, water, and security, and this psychotic bitch is going to go and talk to them about music downloads?)
I'm a little disappointed with the Iraqi government for their lack of progress...they should have shot her ass on the spot for that nonsense.
The only change I can believe in is what I find in my couch cushions.