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Canadian Theatre Chain Sued for Abusive Search
An anonymous reader writes "A Canadian theater chain has been sued for an abusive search for camcording equipment. A Montreal woman is seeking $60,000 in damages for the search, which comes after the Canadian government caved to US pressure and enacted anti-camcording legislation."
This search has nothing to do with the Canadian government but theatre owners. The infamous Bill C-59 (http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publicat ion.aspx?DocId=2993072&Language=e&Mode=1&File=24) is not law yet and gives no additional rights for anyone to search anyone for anything.
Even if C-59 was passed, which is not likely, no one would ever see jail time over it. Good luck proving an intent to distribute the recording and no judge in Canada would ever put anyone away for even a day for a non-violent offense with a maximum sentence of only 2 years.
Once again, this is simply theatre owners reacting to intense industry pressure. This is not a story about the oppressive Canadian government.
I was ejected from a movie theatre after manhandling one of the 14 year old movie drones. he actually reached out and felt a bulge in my vest pocket! (Manitoba btw). I was shocked, first reaction was to shove him into the wall rather hard. Manager came over, got my money back, and was asked to leave.
Fuck them. start randomly patting down people WITHOUT EVEN ASKING is going to get you hurt.
Anyone wondering what he's talking about should check out these examples.
DVD sales have long ago surpassed theatre sales for where the money is made. Many movies lose at the box office but make it into the back after going out to DVD. Some never get a chance in the theatre but become successful on video all the same (Boondock Saints). Thus far the numbers do NOT bear out that P2P is hurting legit sales. In fact the one and only proper, scientific, peer reviewed study shows no impact (http://www.unc.edu/~cigar/papers/FileSharing_Marc h2004.pdf). This seems to be supported by the fact that despite their crying about rampant piracy, media companies are not only not going out of business, they are posting healthy profits.
I know that the media industry likes to claim that the evil pirates are killing their business, but thus far the real numbers just don't bare that out.