p2pnet news view | Movies:- There’s a new Hollywood offence, says Dann Gire in the Chicago Daily Herald.

It’s called “Stealing an Oscar-nominated drama or a critically lauded comedy”.

“The first question I would ask video piracy suspect Gerardo Arellano would be this: ‘Hannah Montana: The Movie’? Are you kidding me? That’s the motion picture you’re accused of illegally videotaping?” – he says his column.

Arellano and his wife, Maribel Fernandez, “were arrested after he was found with a camera while the movie was being shown, says the Associated Press, going on:

“Arellano was charged with criminal use of a motion-picture facility, unlawful use of a sound-recording device, computer fraud and online sale of stolen property. Maribel Fernandez was charged with criminal use of a motion-picture facility.”

But, “Arellano could have been charged with stealing an Oscar-nominated drama, or a critically lauded comedy,” says Gire.

Meanwhile, “During a bail hearing on Monday, Assistant Cook County State’s Atty. Adam Klugman said a search of the couple’s Hoffman Estates home turned up 44,000 CDs and DVDs containing pirated movies,” says AP adding:

“Arellano, who was released on $20,000 bond, later claimed the CDs and DVDs were his mother’s.”

And, “All media people – especially film critics and columnists – have an obligation to stand up against piracy, even if the movie being pirated isn’t worth stealing,” says Gire, adding:

Film critics are often subjected to metal-detector wands before entering a press screening. Sometimes they must check their cell phones at the door, too.

At the height of Hollywood’s anti-pirating mania, security guards even frisked Roger Ebert, apparently thinking he was packing heat in the form of video cameras and recording devices.

Look, I don’t want to go all philosophical here, but stealing movies is like stealing works of art. No, it is stealing works of art.

Even if some movies aren’t quite art, stealing is still stealing, and there’s something about that in the Ten Commandments, I think.

In these hard economic times, we need to remember that the movies continue to give us the best bang for our entertainment bucks.

Ultimately, movie theft will drive the admission prices up for the rest of us, so we, on a bare-bones consumer level, owe it to ourselves to stop pirates.

However, “Hannah Montana: The Movie, a big-screen version of the Disney Channel series, exceeded the predictions of the industry swamis,” said Time.

“It registered the biggest opening day for any G-rated movie and proved that Hollywood should never underestimate the drawing power of Hannah and her kid sisters. According to studio estimates, the film will take the North American weekend crown with $34 million.”

But how could that be ?! -  wondered p2pnet, adding, “Like, it`s all over the place on the networks !?

“Expect X-Men origins: Wolverine to enjoy similar success.

“The leak of the not-quite-finished workprint online and subsequent (free) publicity pretty much guarantees it’ll be an instant hit.”

No need to stay tuned.

Chicago Daily Herald – Gire on movie piracy: It’s costing all of us, April 15, 2009
Associated Press – Man caught in theater filming movie, April 14, 2009
Time – OMG! Hannah Montana (and Miley) Top Box Office, April 12, 2009
p2pnet – Hannah Montana: The Movie – online, April 13, 2009
Wolverine – Oz FX house denies it leaked X-Men flick, April 6, 2009