Meet the Rat-Fink-o-Fone
p2pnet.net news:- Hollywood pirate sniffers Lucky and Flo are going to have to move over because Regal Entertainment Group figures it’s come up with a sure fire way to ease the dogs into retirement.
It’s the Rat-Fink-o-Fone, a handy little gadget with four buttons which’ll allow disgruntled patrons to grass on anyone who’s doing something they don’t like.
When it comes to putative pirates, all they’ll have to do is press button three, and sit back.
Officially called the Regal Guest Response System, the FinkFone, for short, is the work of the Regal Entertainment Group, owner of America’s largest theatre circuit, and some 114 locations are now utilizing it, the company boasts.
It’s a, “hand-held pager with four buttons,” it explains. “Each button alerts local management of a different problem such as: sound, picture, piracy or other disturbance. When the patron pushes a button, a message goes to a pager worn by a manager which tells them the nature of the concern, and in which auditorium.
Needless to say, only carefully selected patrons get to use the FinkFone. They’re all Regal Crown Club members who’ve accumulated credits at the box office and concession stand to earn free popcorn, soft drinks, movies and now, the FinkFone, says Regal, adding:
“For their participation in the Guest Response System, Regal Crown Club members receive extra credits toward earning these great rewards.”
FinkFones can be found at the following fine theaters, so watch it:
Albany, NY Miami, FL CROSSGATES STADIUM 18 KENDALL VILLAGE STADIUM 16 MAGNOLIA PLACE STADIUM 16 Amarillo, TX SAWGRASS STADIUM 23 AMARILLO STAR STADIUM 14 SOUTH BEACH STADIUM 18 Atlanta, GA Minneapolis, MN ATLANTIC STATION STADIUM 16 BROOKLYN CENTER STADIUM 20 HOLLYWOOD STADIUM 24 @ NORTH I-85 MALL OF GEORGIA STADIUM 20 + IMAX Nashville, TN HOLLYWOOD STADIUM 27 Augusta, GA GREEN HILLS STADIUM 16 AUGUSTA EXCHANGE STADIUM 20 OPRY MILLS STADIUM 20 + IMAX Austin, TX New York City, NY METROPOLITAN STADIUM 14 BATTERY PARK STADIUM 11 SHEEPSHEAD BAY STADIUM 14 Baltimore, MD STATEN ISLAND STADIUM 16 HUNT VALLEY STADIUM 12 COURT STREET STADIUM 12 KAUFMAN ASTORIA STADIUM 14 Baton Rouge, LA COMMERCE CENTER STADIUM 18 CITIPLACE STADIUM 11 NEW ROC CITY STADIUM 18 + IMAX Bend, OR Norfolk, VA OLD MILL STADIUM 16 MACARTHUR CENTER STADIUM 18 Boise, ID Orlando, FL BOISE STADIUM 21 + IMAX THE LOOP STADIUM 16 OVIEDO MARKETPLACE STADIUM 22 Buffalo, NY WINTER PARK VILLAGE STADIUM 20 ELMWOOD CENTER STADIUM 16 WATERFORD LAKES STADIUM 20 Charleston, SC. Philadelphia, PA CHARLES TOWNE SQUARE STADIUM 18 BRANDYWINE TOWN CENTER STADIUM 16 DOWNINGTON STADIUM 16 Charlotte, NC HAMILTON COMMONS STADIUM 14 STONECREST AT PIPER GLEN STADIUM 22 PEOPLES PLAZA CINEMA STADIUM 17 PLYMOUTH MEETING 10 Cleveland, OH RIVERVIEW PLAZA STADIUM 17 MIDDLEBURG TOWN SQUARE STADIUM 16 SEVERANCE TOWN CENTER STADIUM 14 Portland, OR CASCADE STADIUM 16 Dallas, TX BRIDGEPORT VILLAGE STADIUM 18 KEYSTONE PARK STADIUM 16 + IMAX LLOYD CENTER 10 Dayton, OH LLOYD MALL 8 FAIRFIELD COMMONS STADIUM 20 DIVISION STREET STADIUM 13 Denver, CO Raleigh, NC COLORADO CENTER STADIUM 9 BRIER CREEK STADIUM 14 DENVER PAVILIONS STADIUM 15 NORTH HILLS STADIUM 14 MEADOWS STADIUM 12 COLORADO MILLS STADIUM 16 Richmond, VA VIRGINIA CENTER STADIUM 20 Fairbanks, AK SHORTPUMP STADIUM 14 GOLDSTREAM STADIUM 16 Sacramento, CA Fresno, CA NATOMAS MARKETPLACE STADIUM 16 FRESNO STADIUM 21 + IMAX EL DORADO HILLS STADIUM 14 MODESTO STADIUM 10 Ft Myers, FL BELLTOWER STADIUM 20 San Antonio, TX HOLLYWOOD STADIUM 20 - NAPLES NORTHWOODS STADIUM 14 CIELO VISTA STADIUM 18 Greenville, SC LIVE OAK STADIUM 18 HOLLYWOOD STADIUM 20 ALAMO QUARRY STADIUM 16 Harrisburg, PA San Diego, CA MANOR STADIUM 16 MIRA MESA STADIUM 18 + IMAX Hartford, CT San Francisco, CA BRASS MILL STADIUM 12 DEER VALLEY STADIUM 16 HACIENDA CROSSINGS STADIUM 20 Honolulu, HI + IMAX DOLE CANNERY STADIUM 18 EMERY BAY STADIUM 10 JACK LONDON STADIUM 9 Houston, TX HOUSTON MARQ*E STADIUM 23 + IMAX Seattle, WA EVERETT MALL STADIUM 16 Jackson, MS PARKWAY PLAZA STADIUM 12 NORTH PARK STADIUM 14 AUBURN STADIUM 17 PARKWAY PLACE STADIUM 10 LAKEWOOD STADIUM 15 MARTIN VILLAGE STADIUM 16 Knoxville, TN MERIDIAN STADIUM 16 PINNACLE STADIUM 18 Shreveport, LA Las Vegas, NV LOUISIANA BOARDWALK STADIUM 14 RED ROCK STADIUM 16 BOULDER STATION STADIUM 11 St Louis, MO SUNSET STATION STADIUM 13 ST LOUIS MILLS STADIUM 18 VILLAGE SQUARE STADIUM 18 Tampa, FL Lexington, KY HOLLYWOOD STADIUM 20 - SARASOTA HAMBURG PAVILION STADIUM 16 CITRUS PARK STADIUM 20 Los Angeles, CA Washington, D.C ONTARIO PALACE STADIUM 22 + IMAX GALLERY PLACE STADIUM 14 SOUTH GATE STADIUM 20 BALLSTON COMMON STADIUM 12 IRVINE SPECTRUM STADIUM 20 + IMAX FREDERICKSBURG 15 LONG BEACH STADIUM 26 POTOMAC YARD STADIUM 16 AVENUES STADIUM 13 ROCKVILLE CENTER STADIUM 13 CAMARILLO PALACE 12 BOWIE STADIUM 14 VALENCIA STADIUM 12 WESTVIEW STADIUM 16 PARKWAY PLAZA STADIUM 18 TEMECULA STADIUM 15 West Palm Beach, FL ANAHEIM HILLS 14 ROYAL PALM BEACH STADIUM 18
Also See:
Regal Entertainment Group – Regal Guest Response System Offered in 114 Theatres, May 29, 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 31st, 2007 at 4:18 pm
It would be nice to have some technical information on this device./ I could thing of all kinds of fun signals to send to the theatre management.
June 1st, 2007 at 8:26 am
Having worked as a projectionist for this company until their union-busting tactics eliminated my job, I can assure you, they have a lot of more pressing problems than this silly pager will solve. Their presentation currently is terrible; the theaters are dirty and smelly; restrooms are on par with a public rest area. And I notice there is no button for “noisy people” or “mugging in progress”, only “tell us if the picture is screwed up because we can’t afford to pay an usher to stick his head in the auditorium every half hour or so.” I guess anybody rudely using their cell phone will be flagged as a “pirate” but….not to worry. The chance that anyone will investigate the signals is very low.
June 1st, 2007 at 12:56 pm
The list seems to include movie theaters that are not on cruise ships or ocean going vessels of any kind. What’s up with that?
June 1st, 2007 at 5:43 pm
yeh, riiiiiight…..
June 1st, 2007 at 5:48 pm
There is not one cruise line that is operated FROM the USA. Their port of calls are all in obscure little places that have no laws governing their modus operandi, therefore they are basically “immune” to the *AAs…at least until they dock somewhere where the *AAs have “jurisdiction”. While out to sea, outside of any national waters ‘anything’ goes.
June 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
so how meny times could you ligitimatly press the piracy button during pirates of the carribean 3?
June 4th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Sorry, my sarcasm was perhaps a bit too obscure. I was making the point that the only place you find pirates is out at sea, so why a “piracy” button on these boxes that are only in landlubber movie theaters? Just a silly joke… That being said, calling it what it is, copyright infringement doesn’t sound all that terrible, thus the industry push to call it piracy. Arrrgh…
June 18th, 2007 at 10:50 am