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UK Copyright Group Tells Cinemas to Ban Laptops
Sockatume writes "Cinema chain Cineworld now has a policy banning anyone from carrying a laptop into a theatre, even if it is not used. The management claims that this is an anti-piracy move on the advice of the Federation Against Copyright Theft, the much-mocked source of all kinds of dubious anti-piracy statements. When it was pointed out that the laptop had no camera, the management made a temporary exception. For customers, the message is clear: leave your laptop in the car. For pirates, the message is clear: there is more money to be made slinking around cinema car parks looking for laptop bags."
It's funny they had no problems with mobile phones that certainly have good cameras now a days, but with a laptop. Oh well, maybe that changes soon too.
I'm just waiting them to take off our eyes while in movie theatre.
If you didn't have a trunk (motorcycle rider for example) I could see why, but seriously, this should not be much of an issue for most people.
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Important caveat, neatly snipped from the start of the post.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Banning laptops in a theatre to stop people from recording movies in a theatre makes about as much sense as banning people from drinking if they possess a valid drivers license because they could decide to drive home (the irony that one actually usually uses a driver's license to prove one's legal drinking age notwithstanding).
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
While it seems like a rather silly policy, why on earth would people be taking their laptops into the movie theater? Are there that many occasions when people don't go home prior to going to a movie?
I certainly wouldn't want to hear the clickety-clack of someone typing behind me while I'm trying to watch a movie, any more than I want to hear the 12 year old telling his friend "okay, in about ten seconds this guy is going to jump out...".
#DeleteChrome
For customers, the message is clear: leave your laptop in the car. For pirates, the message is clear: there is more money to be made slinking around cinema car parks looking for laptop bags.
And for thieves, the message is clear: Bring your crowbar to the 10:00 showing of the latest movie to farm for laptops.
From summary: For pirates, the message is clear: there is more money to be made slinking around cinema car parks looking for laptop bags.
What? Sigh. Once again, all together now: Piracy is not stealing.
So that advice is for thieves, not pirates. But wait, there's one more oddity in the same sentence: "more money" - which assumes that money is made at all by piracy. It's sad that even among the IT elite (/.), such myths are propagated.
L'homme est né libre, et partout il est dans les fers.
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If you didn't have a trunk (motorcycle rider for example) I could see why
Or bicycle rider, or bus rider, or train rider, etc. Banning people from carrying in their belongings forces people to use cars more, which is environmentally unsound.
I can't wait until they try to ban the man with the camera in his eye.
I'm sure he doesn't welcome his new robotic eyeball's overlords.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
i have no car, and i have no need for a car
i frequently bring my laptop around with me to do a little bit of work or relaxation
i also frequently go see movies. plenty of times i'll get a request from a fellow cinemaphile to go see a certain movie later in the day, when i'm away from work or home. so do i go to work or home, drop off the laptop, then take a second walk or subway ride to the cinema?
the uk has a higher population density that the united states. the uk also has better public transport options. meaning many more people living in the uk are living the urban walk/ train/ bus lifestyle like mine than the typical car-centric suburban american lifestyle
when you say "this should not be much of an issue for most people" you are really saying "i don't give much thought to anyone who doesn't have the same lifestyle as me". you really need to be less self-centered in your thinking
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The rest of us will forego the spanish inquisition, the extortionate prices and the hassle in general of getting parked and bothering to go to the cinema, we will instead sit at home watching our bootlegged copy, pausing it to go to the loo and still have the poeple walking infront of the screen, laughing and coughing.
Actually I feel like doing piracy vs cinema:
Cinema:
Pros
Cons:
Piracy:
Pros:
Cons:
They've got the tech to find most cameras and send blinding light right at the camera.
I know this is true because I saw it on the interwebs a year or two ago.
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
i can understand leaving it in your bag if you're coming from work, but why would you take it out?
What do you do if your company policy doesn't allow a laptop to be left in a car or hotel room?
As someone who needs to carry a laptop for work purposes, and having had my car broken into and my laptop stolen (albeit in separate incidents), this would be the end of going to see movies in the theater for me. Now, I don't claim to be representative of the population in general, and for most people I could see how this wouldn't be a big deal. But at least for me, years of practice has taught me that the best way to maintain security on my laptop (and more importantly, my data) is to never let it out of my sight unless it's in my home or office. And if dropping my laptop off at home becomes the necessary prerequisite to going to see a movie, it's likely that I just won't bother.
Plus, at home I can watch in Blu-ray @1080p and pause anytime I like, and the popcorn and soda are free.
For customers, the message is clear: leave your laptop in the car.
I have a better answer: When they ask you to put your laptop in your car, ask for your money back and leave. Is it really worth being treated like a criminal to see that movie right now? Customer service matters. If the proprietor of some establishment is a dick, don't give him your money.
Stop-Prism.org: Opt Out of Surveillance
I wonder if this has more to do with the Twitter effect (see Brüno) than stopping piracy.
It seems rather implausible (to be generous) that someone would try to illegally film a movie using a crappy webcam on your average laptop (particularly if they manage to do it with the laptop in the bag). If you think about how a laptop is likely to hurt them financially, the reason should be pretty clear.
Aside from the obvious absurdity of someone trying to record a movie with their laptop -- how much of a problem are off-screen recordings for the movie industry? I may be naive -- but I really have a hard time imagining someone saying -- "I was gonna go see this movie in the theater, but I have a copy that someone recorded with a video camera in the theater! This is just as good! Now I don't need to go see it!"
Am I missing something here, or are these anti-piracy groups really that dense?
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
No laptops? I guess I'll just have to bring my desktop computer and CRT into the cinema, like the Impromptu Anywhere Starbucks prank.
I'd be ok for banning people with coughs in a cinema.
There's nothing worse than having someone cough behind constantly in the movie, and there's always some douche who forgot to take his medicine and who can't suppress their hacking, or some teenage dirtbag who just HAS to cough without covering his mouth and having spit fly all over.
And GUESS WHAT MPAA.... PEOPLE HAVE MEMORIES, TOO!!! They could tell their friends about the movie. :-D
Put your laptop in a backpack. It's safer from idiots and thiefs both. If it's a good one, it's healthier than a laptop bag slung over your shoulder. And it gets in the way far less often. (Just be sure not to put small valuables in it like your wallet, if they might easily be stolen without noticing the weight loss/fiddling, especially in noisy or busy environments.)
Look out!
Yes the camera's that are built into laptops are usally pretty piss poor quality, but theres nothing stopping someone taking a USB video camera in as well. It wouldn't surprise me if there are a few tiny ones that record with good footage, and connected to a laptop, would have plenty of recording space unlike a cellphone which most won't have the room/power to store movie length footage
I still think its a stupid idea. You can't stop cam-rips without creating a hostile viewing enviroment, even then i doubt you would stop cam-rips.
I'll also add, i expect laptops to become more and more common as time, and internet connectivity goes on. Have you see how small some of the netbooks are getting, while the coverage area's and pricing of 3g networks keep improving. But thats a bit off-topic.
To avoid criticism; Say nothing, Do nothing, Be nothing.
"After a short time a small boy appeared. Sorry I said, I want to see the manager.
It turns out the small boy was the manager."
Yeah... that kinda makes you sound like a prick. Waving around a BBC ID like it makes you special and somehow exempt from the rules everyone else has to follow isn't the most endearing quality either.
Who are these people who watch theater video camera recordings of movies? That's really sad. At leaste be a self-respecting pirate and get a decent copy.
"But surely if I wanted a copy of this movie, I'd download it on bittorrent", I like to say loudly when they put up that piracy warning at the start of a movie, and impose a deadly hush on the audience.
Indeed, someone using a laptop in a movie theater would be more likely to be downloading the movie, rather than trying to record it from the screen. You'd end up with a better copy.
Why don't people run these ideas by their kids before they write the press releases. This is just embarrassing.
but if they really want to get to the source of the problem, the Federation Against Copyright Theft will tell cinemas to only allow mute people. that really nips the problem in the bud
see, even if they don't have laptops or other recording devices, some people go see movies and then, get this, verbally review the movies to their friends. some of these verbal narrative reviews are obviously derivative copyright works that represents lost revenue and are legally actionable, since hearing about a movie that sucks replaces the need to go see the movie that sucks yourself
this is clearly the same thing as recording the movie and showing it for free on your computer: it represents lost revenue. people should have to go to the cinema and pay to experience the burning depression and/ or hatred of a terrible movie themselves, not hear from their friends how soul destroying an awful movie is
so voiceboxes must be banned along with laptops. but i understand that some mute people know how to write... hmmm
only illiterate mutes then should be allowed in the cinema
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Stay home.
Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
Call me old fashioned, but who the hell takes their laptop with them to the movies anyway?
This isn't done to reduce piracy - it's to change people's opinions regarding piracy, and remind people that they find piracy unacceptable.
Also, they like to have an excuse to search bags so as to ensure no sweets or drinks are being brought in from outside - they make most of their money on their overpriced refreshments.
I really like going to the cinema, but the more it becomes like airport security theatre, the less I go. I'd rather see the show inside, than the one at the door.
many small laptops can fit inside large coat pockets. anyone with a backpack may have a laptop. no one walks on the sidewalk with their shiny laptop cradled in their hands unprotected. so of course you don't see anyone carrying a laptop to any theater: they're securely under covers 99% of the time
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
What are people DOING with a laptop in a theater? I thought the glare from a cellphone was distracting and rude. If someone opened up a laptop in the row ahead of me, I'd leave and ask for my money back. That's beyond rude...
You need to patronize theaters where, if you use a cell phone, they'll TAKE YOUR ASS OUT.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
I don't have a car. I commute by bus and ferry. There's a Cineworld on my way home that I frequent, but now cannot as I carry my laptop to work every day (I use it to get in a bit of work/browsing on the 2 x 30 minute ferry crossing daily commute).
Cineworld Southampton have therefore just lost my business. This is particularly stupid of them, as quite often (even with newly released films) I can count the audience members on my fingers.
Myself and friends used to emit a fairly loud "Yarrrrrrrrrrr" every time a "Piracy is a crime" warning came up at the cinema. Sometimes even heard an answering one from across the cinema.
Don't know how it is in other chains but at Vue cinemas in the UK they now use night vision cameras to monitor the people watching the film. ]I once saw a spoof anti-piracy ad involving night vision and silenced sniper rifles - life imitating satire, so I guess I know the next step.
Secondly, this monitoring strikes me as being like the millimetre wave scanners at airports. Sure it's nominally for justifiable purposes but every time I see a message saying they're monitoring us with night vision for copyright purposes I have a mental image of a couple making out in the dark at the back of a cinema and a security guard in an office somewhere watching them using light-enhancing CCTV going "Oooh, go on! You dirty minx! Oooh, you like that, do you?". Seriously, copyright or not, it's not OK to watch cinema goers watching the film - that's plain just creepy.
Not sure about you, but with the cost of a cinema "experience" what it is today, I don't go to the theater casually anymore. If I'm going to spend $25 to get in and sit down with a drink and a dinky bag of stale popcorn (more than twice that if I have a date - yeah, I know... this is /.) then I'm certainly not going to just randomly decide on my way home that I want to see a movie. I'll plan it out, get a bit dressed up and leave my damn laptop at home. It's not like I need any more badges declaring my geekdom.
...would somebody need to bring a laptop into a movie theater?
"Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
One week a month, I get paid extra for being at most 15 min away from ssh 24/7. So I have to carry a laptop and a 3G usb key at all times.
Of course I don't go to the movies anymore, the experience sucks so much with all the stupid jerks talking and/or forgetting to turn off their phone.
there are about 30 people who regularly have to carry a laptop because they are on call or because they have to work with someone half a dozen timezones away and would rather not have to sleep at the office every time a conf call is needed.
We are talking about the UK. Many (most?) people use public transport to commute to their place of work, and as you can imagine, it is not an unusual thing nowadays to carry your laptop all around the place.
So lets see you finish a hard day's work, want to watch a movie and need to take the laptop with you. Bingo. All of the sudden it dawns on you, the assholes at the cinema will not let you watch a movie.
Then you go home or elsewhere (or to other cinemas, specially independent chains that don't dish you that kind of bullshit and actually show better movies).
Are they really so monumentally stupid? Or is this another false alarm?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Hell, my wife and I decided to go to the local NHL skills competition. Now, my wife is more of a hockey fan than I, so I figured I'd bring my laptop along so that I might do a little hacking during the event. Naturally enough, security searched my bag, and yes, they insisted I check my fucking laptop, despite the fact that it doesn't even have a god damned camera on it.
In short: people are stupid. Really *really* stupid.
When I catch a movie after work, but before going home.
Really, is it that difficult to figure that one out?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
If not, how do you know what people are carrying?
Specially now with netbooks, your initial supposition is spacious to say the least.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
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Our local megaplex has been going all out with a even more efficient way of preventing piracy. They simply drive the customer away at the door. See out of 24 screens they only actually clean theaters 1 and 2, and even in those 2 they keep the movie out of focus, and start it late. Add in extra high and rising ticket prices and a rude staff. There's never anyone there for any movie except the occasional tourists. After all my wife and I are avid movie goers... or were, but the local theaters got so bad we basically never bother anymore.
The exception is if something shows up in the local very very small theater... For some odd reason they've escaped (which is why I won't name them;). Clean theaters, movie buff staff, everything on time. They even let people bring in coffee and ice cream from the nearby shops. So what used to be a weekly thing of going to the movies is now only when a movie we want to see is playing at our little theater.
Maybe I am old fashioned, but why would you bring a laptop to the Cinema?
Kosh: "Understanding is a 3 edged sword, your side, their side, the Truth."
In the UK many people use public transport, specially in London (no car booth).
Your home may be one hour away from the area where you work or from where the cinema showing your movie of interest is, not infrequently even further away (no way to shower and drop the laptop, yeah, some Londoners stink actually).
And even if the cinema was across the street, it is an asinine policy, which should be denounced as the stupid idea it is.
We are people paying to watch the movies, we want to be left in peace.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Stopping piracy in the theater is like stopping a murder by taking the bullet out of the person who was shot. You have to stop it earlier than that, i.e. protect the master copies of the movie better when they're sent overseas for editing or something. How else would Chinese 7-11 type stores sell identical copies of movies before they even come out?
stuff |
I often do road trips with lots for still camera equipment, sleeping in the car. We go to the movie theatre regularly and I certainly don't leave my cameras in the car at night while I'm not around. So far nobody has told me anything when I bring a big backpack to the movie. I could go along if they offer to keep it in the manager's office or come to check on me halfway through the movie, but NO I won't leave it in the car !
Non-Linux Penguins ?
Or are you going to tell me you were the first poster?
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
Bring a laptop into the theater in case the movie being shown is crap. If you have your laptop with you, you can pop in a DVD and watch something better. If the movie is truly, severely crap, you will probably attract some new friends, maybe even some hittable ones.
This statement (not the fact that you don't see why someone would own a laptop, but the fact that you consider it even remotely relevant) is one of the biggest problems America is facing. (Yes, I realize TFA is about UK, so you're probably a Brit. But you people are influencing us Americans, and it's starting to show.)
There were once people who at least held liberty to be an ideal. They didn't always live up to it, but at least they considered the very question of "why would anyone want to do that?!" to be distasteful. The only question that ever mattered, was, "Why should we go out of our way to stop people from doing that?!" The default was to permit, and prohibition was a terrible last resort.
Those people are almost gone.
And then there were the people who didn't flaunt ignorance. They might not understand why people own laptops, might not understand why people go to movies, might not understand that other people don't see going to a movie as a big ceremony that one prepares for, don't see going to a movie as possibly just one part of a date that includes many places, some of which might even be decided by looking at Google Maps and then asking each other "so, where should we go next?", might not understand lots of things -- but would never proudly state their lack of imagination in public, and especially wouldn't state that lack of imagination as though it were relevant in policy discussion. But what was once shameful, is now routine. How sad.
...and we make the theaters put in decent security by hiring a kid or two to scan the rooms looking for suspicious activity?
Of course, this additional payroll expense would be reimbursed by the Federation Against Copyright Theft...Hey, why not? They are the ones really worried about all these "losses". The theaters sure as hell aren't seeing it, they're far too busy racking up record-breaking movie openers sitting behind fat stacks of cash, laughing insidiously about how much profit one can possibly make from heating dried kernels of corn...
no one's talking about using a laptop in the theatre. please lose the off-topic hysteria
a guy goes to work/ coffee shop, has his laptop in his sling/ backpack/ coat pocket, and goes with friends to the movie. entirely normal common urban situation
<wtf?/>
come on troll, try harder please
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Thanks, but if the babysitter I hired is telling me my house is burning down and/or my kids are in danger, guess what: I'm answering the phone regardless of the "inconvenience" of that bright light in your eyes.
+3 Insightful, my ass. How about -12, remarkably fucking stupid.
No piracy, problem solved.
Well *I'm* reading the comments, and other than one poster who commutes by bus and ferry, a lot of the examples are really tortured and can be fixed by "go see the movie another time". If you need to SEE IT RIGHT NOW (!!!!) you have some sort of OCD that should probably be addressed.
The rule is dumb, but one has to think the theater chain did this analysis before the brain trust of Slashdot. I'd wager >99% of their customers can see a movie without a laptop in tow for whatever reason.
http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.4355
Why is piracy (stealing) automatically your first alternative? Renting is legal.
Or are you just fucking cheap?
*obligatory sci-fi reference*
Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
What? Sigh. Once again, all together now: Piracy is not stealing.
The Black Flag was flying over the Carribbean when "piracy" was first used to descrbe copyright infringement.
The connection was anchored then. High profile sites like "The Pirate Bay keep it anchored now.
This a not a battle the geek can win. He can't even hold the line on Slashdot.
"
But wait, there's one more oddity in the same sentence: "more money" - which assumes that money is made at all by piracy
The line can't even be held within a single post.
There is money to made in "pirated" IP of every sort: New wave of pirates has psoriasis, frat boy hair; no peglegs
But Ars Technica got one fact wrong. The DOJ will prosecute an individual who is not in the game for the money:
San Diego County Man Pleads Guilty In Movie Piracy Case for posting 'Slumdog Millionaire' On Internet
A word to the wise:
This was a guilty plea on a felony charge.
The Feds award the geek bonus points for the upload of a pre-release screener.
Anyone who is OK with banning cellphones in a theater doesn't have children.
Woe unto those who walk or ride public transit to the cinema.
You know, it's just easier to stop going out to see movies in the theatre...
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
First of all, the chances of that happening are extremely low. Second, if it was happening there is nothing you could do about it from the movie theater. That's why you hired the baby sitter. If you're really so worried, you could just not go to the movies in the first place.
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why would you bring a laptop to the movies anyway?
"To stop the terrorists."
Honestly, fuck actually _going_ to the theater/cinema to watch movies. I don't live in the UK, but Chicago, and I recently paid $10--for a matinee. There is so little about seeing a movie in theater that is pleasing any more--pretty much the only thing is timing; you must see a film in theater if you don't want to wait. But that's about it. Then something like we have here--every happening like this lowers my compunction regarding illegal downloading. Seriously these copyright assholes are killing the art form (amongst many others).
I can't remember the last time I forgot anything.
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Yeah, people keep talking about this, or building farraday cages or active-cell phone blockers because they get pissed that the teen girl won't stop texting and giggling in front of them. It sounds like a great idea until someone's trying to call you because your wife is in a car accident and is being rushed to the hospital. Hell, her doctor might be sitting two rows behind you and can't get the message because he doesn't know his cell is being blocked. Cell phone blockers are illegal for a reason. People may be short on human decency, but government mandating civil behavior (beyond when civil behavior overrides civil rights) is the stuff of dystopian science fiction.
Not taking sides on the actual case of not permitting laptops in the cinema, my local establishment (the Camberley Vue) has lockers, I believe, so that customers can dump their bags before entering. Maybe Cineworld would do well to implement a similar scheme, which would make the idea of not being permitted to take your notebook into the cinema far more palatable.
Those using pirated Tinysoft signatures(TM) are a real threat to society and should all be thrown in jail.
... you buy the ticket *before* they refuse you entrance, and if the owner is inclined to refund you.
Tweet, tweet.
If you're that paranoid, maybe you should be at home looking after your children rather than leaving them with someone you clearly don't trust?
Is 1563649 a prime number?
It could be that this is an anti-piracy thing.
It could also be that they don't want anyone to go watch the first showing and tell the whole world what a giant pile of crap a movie may be. If people knew the movie was horrible, they might wait to see it, or just rent it later... Which costs the studios money and the prestige of box office numbers.
More likely, this is just a knee jerk reaction by a bunch of jerks.
-T
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So next on the list is cellphones with cameras. Can't get those inside either?
I had a similar experience many years ago - my rant was archived for posterity thanks to the local LUG mailing list archive. Full story is here: http://lists.samba.org/archive/wireless/2003-May/002533.html
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Seriously, with even micro SD flash cards now in the 16GB range, and H.264 recording in ever-shrinking devices, banning laptops won't do anything.
Heck, even the latest version of the iPod nano can record video, and so can countless cellphones. And most of them probably have more than enough storage space to record a two hours movie.
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If the movie is any good, I'll wait until I can get it from Netflix, and buy my popcorn and sodas at the supermarket, instead of paying an extra $20 for too damn much salt, fake butter, and watered-down cola. My 10-year-old laptop running DOS is worth more than your damn movie.
A lot of people in the UK work in the middle of large cities, and live outside... I know plenty of people who will watch a movie (in a cinema) after work, and go there with their laptop bags. If they're not allowed in, they don't have a car parked outside to put their laptop in, so they simply won't be able to go.
http://spamdecoy.net - free throwaway anonymous email - avoid spam!
Sounds good to me. Is there a petition I could sign?
The chances of something bad happening to a child during the 17 or so years they're under your care however is rather high if me, and my friends and family are any indication. And telling someone to not go to the movies is silly. Most parents don't sweat while their kids are at school, but you want to be notified rather quickly if something does happen.
Oh that's great, now they know...good job, mate...
For pirates, the message is clear: there is more money to be made slinking around cinema car parks looking for laptop bags.
Now that is how you keep pirates outside of the movie theater!
Opus: the Swiss army knife of audio codec
People still go to movie theaters?
If you can't live 2 hours without worrying about your children, maybe your children would be better off with parents less paranoiac than you.
Sorry, but that's nonsense.
The only chance my wife & I have these days to go to the cinema is when our son is in daycare. If anything was happen to him while there, they need to call us. If we're not reachable, they could call social services, and how would that look? So we need to be contactable while our son's there.
Having said that, my phone's always on silent when in the cinema, and I would leave the auditorium to take the call should I happen to receive one. That's just common courtesy - something most cinema-goers, parents or not, don't seem to have these days.
In that case the babysitter calls the cinema and ask them to fetch you. Old school tech rules!
Reading through all these posts, I have come to the following conclusions: 1. Virtually all slash dotters and people who haul laptops around don't go to the theatre anyway, so this is a moot point for them, and if anything just one more reason not to even tihink about going out for a show when the pub is closer, easier, and friendlier. 2. One of the key factors discouraging slash dotters and laptop carriers from attending the theatre is the so-called great unwashed masses that frequent movie theatres on an alarming basis, blathering away on unbarred cell phones while snorting popcorn and walking in front of the screen. These people clearly do not have laptops and might even be prohibited from touching one, lest they break it. 3. The movie theatres already understand that the crowd from point #2 are their primary audience, so anyone who does show up in the theatre with a laptop must be regarded with suspicion as a pirate, since all the known laptoppers from point #1 have already fled from the theatres long ago in disgust. 4. Ergo, this nonsensical enforcement will have no noticeable effect except to force pirates to wear trenchier coats to the theatre.
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