p2pnet - rss feed: New Hollywood anti-piracy device
p2pnet.net news:- The Malaysians have found what Reuters describes as a, “powerful new weapon in their fight against movie pirates”.
So what is this latest effort of the major studios to get to grips with counterfeiters and duplicators whom they say use handy miniaturise camcorders to tape feature films for distribution online and sale on street corners?
Military-style night-vision goggles.
“After showing people to their seats, trained ushers are strapping on the goggles and scanning darkened cinemas around the country to spot anyone trying to make illegal copies of movies with hand-held video recorders or mobile phones,” says the story.
And behind the move is, predictably, MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) clone the MPA (Motion Picture Association).
“The Motion Picture Association, which is training Malaysian ushers to catch the pirates, said cinemas had caught 17 people in the past two months.”
The rumour that the MPAA is having special night vision goggles developed for Lucky and Flo, the (in)famous digital sniffer dogs with the uncanny ability, according to the studios, to be able to find dodgy disks by mere odour alone, shouldn’t necessarily be discounted.
Meanwhile, the night vision goggles effort is “very successful” according to the MPA’s Malaysia manager, Nor Hayati Yahaya, adds Reuters.
Also See:
Reuters - Cinemas use night goggles to nab pirates, May 25, 2007
by odour alone - Lucky and Flo, back again, March 14, 2007
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
May 29th, 2007 at 8:39 am
Quote from Digg:
“Normally the pirates make a deal with cinema owners and give them a cut of the profits. So such night goggles are useful only on spying on couples enjoying intimate moments.”
May 29th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Great!
The goggles can be used also to spot the following criminals and/or criminal activities:
1. Intimate behaviour.
2. Eating sneaked into theater junk food.
3. Speaking and disturbing patrons.
4. Use of hats that interfere with patron’s line of sight.
5. Tall people that interfere with patron’s line of sight.
6. Kids watching adult movies.
7. Viewing a movie more than once.
8. Terrorists installing bombs.
9. Suspected foreigners
10. Spies.
11. Loafing employees.
12. Sneaking through fire escape door.
etc.
I wonder, how theaters ever lived without night goggles?
May 29th, 2007 at 12:23 pm
On the Reuters news site, what Jon failed to quote is this:
“The association, which represents the big Hollywood studios, recently brought to Malaysia two dogs trained to sniff out DVDs — with stunning results. The two Labradors, Lucky and Flo, have sniffed out more than a million DVDs and broken a fake DVD ring.”
It seems that the two dogs that we heard so much of are really doing their job. They are breaking up the pirate DVD rings that are causing the real damage to the movie industry.
This one is my favorite: “They have been so successful that authorities believe Malaysian pirates have put a bounty on the dogs’ heads.”
Now I have heard of contracts being put out on people, but dogs? Kinda makes you wonder what other ‘businesses’ these pirates are in.
May 29th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
You must remember that Malaysia is an Islamic country. Muslims don’t have a lot of use for dogs, they consider them dirty.
May 29th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
I didn’t include that bit because I’ve written about these Hollywood mutts so many times, now, that it’s getting boring.
I can see it - Lucky runs around all over the place, sniffing madly. Suddenly he stops and hopes rise! But No! He just cocks his leg and pees all over the box the Hollywood Hacks brought to keep the DVDs in.
OK. Now tell me Lucky is a girl ;P
Cheers!
May 30th, 2007 at 12:58 am
LOL
Well Jon, that beats my response.
Later.