Two years for camcording Batman flick
p2pnet view P2P | MPAA:- The entertainment cartels are now completely out of control. And that’s official.
They do whatever they want, actively backed up by police and other agencies whose salaries are met by taxpayers whom they’re supposed to protect.
And government administrations elected by the same people — including Obama’s — either stand by and watch, or are complicit.
ACTA and the Three Strikes campaign are only the front end.
Now judge Fernando J. Gaitan (right) has ordered Robert Henderson, 42, to be jailed for two years and pay $24,738 in “restitution” for “using a digital camera to camcord ‘The Dark Knight’ on July 18, 2008″, says the Hollywood Examiner.
For copyright infringement.
Because after a multi-million-dollar media, political lobbying and outright bribery campaign on the parts of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, and Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, NBC Universal and Sony Pictures, principally, this simple and, to most people, obscure commercial matter, has been elevated to the level of rape and burglary.
Said a DoJ press release last year >>>
Henderson was apprehended as part of an investigation by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). MPAA investigators discovered a digital copy of the movie “Hancock” that was made available for people to download from the Internet. The Internet video was identified as having been recorded in the East Glenn theater. MPAA investigators were sent to the Lee’s Summit theater to investigate and do surveillance during the weekend of the release of “The Dark Knight.” Henderson was seen entering the movie theater carrying a winter coat, which seemed suspicious in July, then appeared to be operating a video camera hidden underneath the coat during the movie. Investigators confronted Henderson, seized his video camera and called the police. Henderson’s camera also contained a recording of “Hell Boy 2″ and a partial recording of “The Chronicles of Narnia – Prince Caspian.”
While executing a search warrant at Henderson’s residence, police detectives discovered numerous counterfeit DVDs and several computers. A total of 1,240 counterfeit DVDs were recovered from Henderson, representing a total loss to the MPAA of $24,738.
“We are grateful to everyone involved in the apprehension and prosecution of this defendant and want to particularly thank Beth Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri; Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew P. Wolesky; the Lee’s Summit Police Department; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the Hollywood Examiner has MPAA employee Mike Robinson saying.
Hollywood and Big Music routinely use state and federal law and enforcement staff for company business.
But “Hollywood always somehow forgets to mention many, if not most, of the movies which show up on P2P filesharing networks arrive there thanks to Hollywood insiders”, said p2pnet recently, adding this was first detailed by AT&T labs almost exactly six years ago in Analysis of Security Vulnerabilities in the Movie Production and Distribution Process.
The AT&T report said of a total of 285 movies researchers sampled on the P2P networks, 77% were leaked by industry ‘insiders’.
And the trend continues. But it’s never mentioned that Sony’s electronics arm is principal among the companies manufacturing tiny, easily concealed cameras and other equipment of the kind typically used by ‘pirates’.
Gaitain was a Southwestern Bell Telephone company lawyer before named as a state trial and appellate judge by George W. Bush.
..… and identi.ca
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
front end – ACTA internet chapter online, February 22, 2010
Hollywood Examiner – Two years for Dark Knight Pirate, February 20, 2010
p2pnet – Wolverine uploader nailed by FBI, December 16, 2009
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February 22nd, 2010 at 10:49 am
You might want to change the headline. As best I can see from a cursory glance at this story, he was not fined and jailed for “camcording a Batman flick”, he was find and jailed for sharing it on the Internet.
Was he guilty? Yes.
Is the punishment reasonable? No. Another case of “Cruel and unusual punishment” bought to you by the MPAA and their lawyers.
February 22nd, 2010 at 11:28 am
Jon is right, it’s about filming a pre-release movie. There is no allegation of uploading to the internet.
February 22nd, 2010 at 2:04 pm
On the plus side – the fine was appropriate ($19.95 per counterfeit DVD I think)
February 22nd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
Personally, I think more arrest should be done. I work with people who have seen films at home that I just paid full price to watch in the theatres… I don’t know how they get them. But they do… Once, I borrowed a boot leg version of “Batman begins”. I’ll never do it again. It was missing at least 20 minutes of a major part of the story… if people don’t want to pay to see a film in the way it was meant to be viewed(in a theatre). Then they need to just wait 3 months for it to come out on DVD.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
I DONT KNOW WHAT BOOTLEG MOVIE YOU WATCHED, BUT EVERY MOVIE I WATCHED WAS COMPLETE !!!!!
AND I DID NOT GO TO THE MOVIE THEATER FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS , AND I WATCHED EVERY MOVIE THAT CAME OUT FOR FREE * BECAUSE I HAVE TO SPEND ALMOST $50 BUCKS FOR ME AND MY WIFE TO WATCH A MOVIE AT THE MOVIE THEATER…….AND I CANT DO THAT IN THIS KIND OF ECONOMY
AND SECOND IF I ( AND THAT’S A BIG BIG *IF* ) DECIDE TO OWN A MOVIE ON DVD I WOULD NOT GO TO THE STORE, I WOULD JUST DL ON THE SITES( WE ALL KNOW WHICH ONES) AND RIPPED ON TO A DVD OR JUST GO TO EBAY AND GET IT FOR LIKE $5 BUCKS
THIRD THIS DAYS YOU DONT EVEN HAVE TO DL A MOVIE YOU CAN JUST GO TO MANY MANY SITES ONLINE AND JUST PRESS PLAY AND THE NEW MOVIE WILL START TO PLAY…….WHY GO TO THE MOVIES AND SPEND 10 BUCKS FOR A POPCORN IF YOU CAN SIT AT HOME AND MAKE EVEN BETTER POPCORN FOR 41 BUCK ?????
THANKS
July 16th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
UPS I MEANT POPCORN FOR $1 BUCK