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WB Took Pains To "Delay" Pirating of Dark Knight

Jay writes "The L.A. Times is reporting on a new studio tactic — not to prevent piracy, but to delay it, as was the case with special tactics used with Dark Knight. 'Warner Bros. executives said the extra vigilance paid off, helping to prevent camcorded copies of the reported $180-million film from reaching Internet file-sharing sites for about 38 hours. Although that doesn't sound like much progress, it was enough time to keep bootleg DVDs off the streets as the film racked up a record-breaking $158.4 million on opening weekend. The movie has now taken in more than $300 million. The success of an anti-piracy campaign is measured in the number of hours it buys before the digital dam breaks.'" You know what else helps to have a big opening weekend? Making a good movie.

34 of 642 comments (clear)

  1. Hey WB! by Ariastis · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why so serious??

    1. Re:Hey WB! by Osurak · · Score: 5, Funny

      Want to see a magic trick? I'm going to make these bootleg DVDs disappear.

    2. Re:Hey WB! by HoldmyCauls · · Score: 2, Funny

      Whoops, wrong end!

      --
      Emacs: for people who just never know when to :q!
    3. Re:Hey WB! by TerranFury · · Score: 2, Funny

      I don't think your trick can use an eye socket. Would you like to try the other end of a WB exec?

      Something about the way you said this sounded like a Vista UAC dialog.

      "You have requested to insert a sharpened pencil in a CEO's rectum. Cancel or Allow?"

  2. And another thing by Minwee · · Score: 5, Funny

    You know what helps to prevent piracy?

    Making a really terrible movie.

    There are people out there who will track you down, smear you with honey and stake you out on top of an ant hill if you catch you distributing copies of "Alone in the Dark" or "BloodRayne". It's how the community polices itself.

  3. Rumor has it... by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 2, Funny

    They used the Disappearing Camcorder Trick© to "persuade" would be pirateurs to go elsewhere...

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  4. From the article: by martin_henry · · Score: 5, Funny

    "If the movie's a stiff, and word gets out too early that it's a stiff, it's devastating to the business model," Garland said.

    here come the tears...

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    www.purevolume.com/martyd
    1. Re:From the article: by moxley · · Score: 5, Funny

      Wow...I never though of it this way.

      What if...What if everything could be like that?

      Tell me more about this "only do things that you really want to do" philosophy....It sounds revolutionary...

    2. Re:From the article: by fracai · · Score: 4, Funny

      Perhaps you would like to subscribe to Machtyn's newsletter?

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      -- i am jack's amusing sig file
    3. Re:From the article: by Firehed · · Score: 4, Funny

      Only if you really, really want to, of course. No pressure.

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      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
    4. Re:From the article: by markov_chain · · Score: 5, Funny

      Why not make it illegal to talk about the movie? There could probably be a copyright basis somehow, and apparently it does hurt the business.

      --
      Tsunami -- You can't bring a good wave down!
    5. Re:From the article: by neonmonk · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm going to wait until at least the 2nd or 3rd edition...

    6. Re:From the article: by Buran · · Score: 2, Funny

      Excuse me, but why the hell is this comment a troll, fucknut?

    7. Re:From the article: by ultranova · · Score: 2, Funny

      Granted, I probably should have been more verbose and stated: "Unless you really, really want to see the movie and you're not doing it because I have this dire need to be a part of the masses but because the movie interested you."

      It could be argued that the guy who pays to satisfy his herd instincts has less issues than the guy who pays because he really, really wants to see another guy beat up other guys while dressed up as a bat.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

  5. Re:Honestly, now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sorry, but I'm just not capable of managing that level of suspension of disbelief.

    Hehehe. I know what you mean. I can suspend my disbelief long enough to imagine a guy in a bat costume flying and swinging around a darkened city fighting the forces of evil, but I can't figure out how a 38 hour delay makes any sort of dent in stopping piracy.

  6. Re:Preserving our rights by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Shhh, Europeans know everything. Bow down before their mighty wisdom.

  7. Re:Honestly, now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    The congressmen can't be that stupid right?

  8. Re:You know what else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Morgan Freeman was in it. You fail.

  9. Re:What about after the pirated copies were out? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, would never have paid to see this excellent movie on the big screen in full surround if I could have downloaded a crappy camcorder copy with someone's head blocking 1/3 of the screen... nosiree!

  10. Immigration? by tepples · · Score: 4, Funny

    Here in Spain

    Does Spain offer asylum for refugees from the U.S. copyright regime?

  11. Re:Preserving our rights by autocracy · · Score: 3, Funny

    That's because of all the cameras (at least, in Britain).

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    SIG: HUP
  12. Appropriate media? by Smivs · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just wondering if pirated copies of The Dark Knight would look best using TDK media?

    1. Re:Appropriate media? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      It'll certainly save on the cost of printing a cover.

  13. Re:How do you know what a good movie? by IndustrialComplex · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'll tell you what. If a movie producer gives me their planned list for the director and the actors and a copy of the screenplay, I'll turn that around in 1 day and tell you if your film will suck or not.

    Now, after a few years of me depriving Uwe Boll, SNL spinoff actor, and a few Wayans brothers of their livelyhood, eventually I'll reach a point where I won't immediately recognize the crap. At that point, I may be out of a job, but the films will be better.

    So there isn't some 'hit-movie' button, but there certainly should be a lever to flush the crap.

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  14. Re:How do you know what a good movie? by a_real_bast... · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey, now. The Wayan brothers and Rob Schneider have to eat, y'know.

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    You're making me think. You won't like me when I'm thinking.
  15. Re:well... by iocat · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh my... my Mac, with all smoothing turned off, rendered that "cl" in "click" exactly like a "d." At first I thought there was some awesome new simile I was learning...

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    Dude, I think I can see my house from here.

  16. Re:You know what else? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    I am a racist bastard you insensitive clod!

  17. Re:well... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I may or may not get alot off USENET. I may or may not have an unlimited account because the 50 gig a month account just wasn't cutting it. I may or may not have gotten "The Love Guru" because I may or may not actually "try" and watch anything. So a few weeks ago, I may or may not have been in my living room, folding/sorting socks with the Love Guru on in the background. It may or may not have been so bad that I actually stopped it so I could concentrate on folding my socks.

    A hypothetically free DVD quality version of a new supposed Hollywood movie, in the air conditioned comfort of my alleged home was theortically so bad that I may or may not have turned it off so I could focus on sorting socks.

    Oh, and Sock monster 5, Me 0.

  18. Re:Pirating Nonsense by __aauygf7127 · · Score: 3, Funny

    I wish. I just feel like a TV is an investment I'm going to have for 10 years and may as well get something good. I also got lucky bought a floor model so it was about the same price as most of the 42" or 46" TVs that my friends have. I don't think an HDTV is considered a luxury item these days any more.

  19. Re:well... by L+Boom · · Score: 4, Funny

    Yep. By those standards, the new Mike Myers film was phenomenally successful: Love Guru comes out as the least pirated major studio release in a decade.

  20. Sneezing by camperdave · · Score: 2, Funny

    So, they credit those 38 hours for the record-breaking $158.4 million they made on opening weekend, but they've made another $150 million since the pirated copies have been available (according to the article). So, the pirated copies becoming available didn't seem to have much of an affect, did it?

    Hey, 8.4 million dollars is nothing to sneeze at!

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    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  21. Re:well... by robably · · Score: 2, Funny

    It is not beyond the promoters to take the line "Whatever you do, do not go and see this film!" from a review and use the last five words in the promo material.

    That's appalling. It should of course be "Go to see this film".

  22. Re:You know what else? by utopianfiat · · Score: 5, Funny

    This concludes the FOX News Commentary on this article. Next up: Barack Obama, secret muslim, or just a terrorist?

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    +5, Truth
  23. Re:Not The Same People by MBGMorden · · Score: 2, Funny

    Depends on who you are as to whether watching a movie at home is better though. For me, if I'm watching at my place, alone, then it's good. I watch a movie as intently as possible picking out every single little detail that I can.

    However, me, my brother & his wife, and my sister head over to my parents house once or twice per week to watch movies (my brother has a Netflix subscription and usually brings over some new release that we haven't seen yet). Big screen TV, surround sound, 3 couches, etc. Should be great, except that my family tends to look at viewing a movie in a home setting as a release from the constraints of the theater. The movie just becomes something to fill in background while they talk (either with each other or on the phone), play with the dog(s), wash dishes, or clean the house.

    When I can convince the whole family to actually go to the theater (maybe once a year, if that) it's nice, because they will typically behave themselves in an actual theater, and the antics of the other viewers pale in comparison to what I'd have to endure on a family movie night.

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    "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain