Movie Pirates

No matter how you say it a thief is a thief is a thief. So we have a pirate, is nothing but an electronic thief. These are pretty low people. Shame on all of them the the people who enable them, their buyers.

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The maximum statutory penalty for violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2, 2319B(a)(1) (unauthorized recording of motion pictures in a motion picture exhibition facility, and aiding and abetting) is three years in prison, a fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, a two year term of supervised release, and a $100 mandatory special assessment. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.
I guess you have to ask yourself if the money is worth up to 3 years in federal prison because the feds have put 19 years in jail foras long as this for this crime

Hey Serrano, loved the article. It made me laugh, but more importantly, it was informative. I didn't realize the pirating business was that big. I enjoyed your portrayal of Becky and Chris as the pusher/addict, I think their attitudes pretty much encapsulates how most people who take advantage of the black market feel. "I don't really think about it, and nobody's getting hurt anyways."

However, the only problem I have with the article is that you make people who think pirating should be legal out to be inarticulate, ignorant, and unwilling to see the consequences of their actions.
I would enjoy a "part two" where you explore the other "pirating world" inhabited by people who don't buy illegal CDs, because it is illegal, but still understand the need, (Compare them to the people who never get high, but still think pot should be legal) and are realizing that writing their local congressman isn't getting them anywhere.

Hollywood, and specifically the cinema world, need to stop and think why bootlegging is so popular. Instead of spending all their effort trying to stop it, or make the punishment more harsh (A tactic which, by their own admission, is failing miserably) they need to evolve to fit the consumers' need, making bootlegging obsolete.

Going to the movies has always been the biggest rip-off EVER ( I don't care what they say about inflation and the price of the movie tickets in the seventies) Are they figuring up the obscenely priced popcorn, drinks, and candy? Are they considering the fact that I have to sit next to a STRANGER? Who inevitably is coughing, breathing heavily, or texting his friends? Don't forget twenty minutes of trailers, TV program commercials, and blatant product placement! What about the fact that the seats are uncomfortable, the floor is always sticky (with what I always hope is just spilled coke), and the row behind me is filled with screaming, laughing, throwing popcorn 15 year olds, who usually have at least one four year old with them? Then, to top it all off, the movie usually sucks. I always leave 25 dollars cheaper thinking, next time I'll wait until Netflix has it, or if the movie really sucked, I'll wonder how much Luke (my local bootlegger) would have charged me for my own DVD. Going to the movies is a terrible value for your money, leaving the industry ripe for piracy.

Once the technology is available, there is no back-tracking. The movie industry is NEVER going to be able to stamp out bootlegging and piracy. Then only deterrent that would ever work is crazy high prison sentences, and there is no way in America's climate, that we are going to let judges sentence kids to jail for decades for a "victimless crime".

The movie industry needs to wake up and realize that to survive, they need to evolve. Thanks to the digital age, watching movies IS NEVER GOING TO BE THE SAME. Instead of spending time and energy trying to convince the public that illegal downloading is bad, and detrimental to the economy, they need to focus on how to make their movies available to as many people as possible, and a good value, in as many venues as possible (not just a cinema) BEFORE people ever think "there must be a better way."

For example, on opening night, am I going to take a family of four to see Alvin & the Chipmunks Two to the price of 60 dollars? Hell no! Would I drive by the cinema on opening night and purchase the DVD to watch in my own home for 20 bucks, or download it on my computer for 10? You better believe I would! And when Luke stops me outside of the liquor store to ask me if I'm interested in seeing Alvin & the Chipmunks, I say no, BECAUSE I HAVE ALREADY PAID THE MOVIE INDUSTRY TO SEE IT ON MY OWN TERMS. Luke is unnecessary.

Anyway, thanks again, and I look forward to reading more of your work

Serrano, well written! Thieves are thieves...no two way about it.

great story! impressive research.

one thing I strongly feel needs to be clarified is the way you portray dvd replicators as being "sort of a bootlegging starter kit". There are plenty of legitimate uses for that equipment, it is counterproductive to give people the impression that it is only used for piracy. All it does is to add fuel to the fire of people trying to prevent access to such equipment.

But you fail to consider the content producer who simply wants to replicate their own work and can't because of stupid krap like Microsoft Vista assuming that all content is stolen -- even if you created it yourself. It means that small independents are locked out from being able to use it to produce content. It's an excuse that the big mega corps can use to further tighten their stranglehold on the market.

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Where the heck did those supposed ticket prices come from??? tickets around here, and for other commentators too, have been at $10 for many years. The prices stated are just totally wrong.

Sometimes, you just really want to have that big screen experience. But $10 is an awful lot of money to pay. It's more than an hours minimum wages. It's too high. I remember when a ticket was less, much less, than an hours wage. Makes a big difference. I agree that the absolute price is not relevant, but the cost in terms of an hours wages certainly is. Bottom line is that movies have priced themselves out of the market.

One the other hand, movies are much more complex and much more expensive to produce then they have been in the past. So the movie companies certainly do deserve to be paid for their work. But the market can't support the price, so either they should make it up on quantity, or they need to find cheaper ways to make the movie, not everything needs or deserves to be an epic production.

Netflix is an outstanding value, also discounters like Fredmyers bargin rack sell videos pretty cheap, there are other places you can buy legal copies even cheaper, such as used videos from the video store. Sometimes a movie is so visually excellent that you just really want to see it on the big screen, but mostly I would much rather buy a video for $8 then pay $10 for a ticket, because I get to watch that video whenever I want and as often as I want. For a couple of dollars more than what the pirate charges you can buy a legal copy of the video and it is going to be good quality and usually has extra features such as the directors commentary.

You know, I've been hearing the riaa and the mpaa scream for years about how people don't want to buy their stuff anymore. And then they point the finger at piracy and say that is the sole reason for their loss of sales. What utter nonsense. The fact is that most of what passes for music these days is total garbage and a lot of the movies are krap as well. Nobody buys it because it does not represent a good value for the money. If they put their focus on producing a quality product they would find a lot more people willing to buy it. Nothing gives a company a right to coerce people into buying it's product. But nothing gives people a right to steal that product either.

Oh and by the way, the music industry thinks nothing of ripping off the musicians either. "me thinks the lady doth protest too much".

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a commentator above said:
"and there is no way in America's climate, that we are going to let judges sentence kids to jail for decades for a 'victimless crime'."

The evidence seems to indicate otherwise. We live in a hysterical society which creeps ever closer to a police-state mentality. For example, a 17 year old boy married a 15 year old girl. this was done with the full consent and involvement/approval of the families. The boy was immediately thrown in jail for two years, because she wasn't 16. Now, I will certainly agree that teenagers are not ready to be starting families, they really ought to wait until they are older, but to put them in jail is outrageous and hypocritical.

But that is only a small part of the abuses and excesses of the injustice system.

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Ultimately we decide what kind of a world we want to live in and we create it that way. It's a question of deciding what do we have value for, and what are we willing to pay for? And what are we willing to tolerate? As long as people choose to buy pirated material, there will always be people willing to sell it. If you want to support an artist then you should buy stuff from that artist. If you don't feel like supporting that artist then don't be surprised when they stop making art and end up washing dishes or something. If you want the art and you value it, then pay for it. But for goodness sakes lets stop all of these witch hunts, it's not the kind of world that most people would choose to live in, at least I hope not.

I see movie bootleging as quick skim to get money. Although is close to as selling drugs, but not as punishable. I personaly am not agaisnt it. I admit to buying pirated dvd's from time to time. Doing this and knowing the art of movie piracy, the bootleger is as good as his source. Wheter it be through what they call "the scene", private torrent websites, or the most common, p2p sites. Usually, the best quality comes from the top sources ( the scene and private sites). You'll be suprised, here in Dallas, most of the bootlegers, are middle age people, just trying to make extra cash, to subsedise the increase in the cost of living. Especial if you have a family to raise. Like "Chris" sated, this epidemic is far greater than the media can ever understand, and will never fo away. Long Live the Pirates!