quote: Louis Bornwasser

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I always thought that an IR projector should continuously project the name of the cinema on the screen. Invisible to the eye, but would show up on all video cameras.

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Couldn't they just put an IR filter in front of the lens?
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 07-16-2008, 10:24 PM:
 
Studio security personnel have used several kinds of night vision devices at my theatre during several prerelease screenings in the past few years.
 

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Posted by Dennis M Dow Jr (Member # 1970) on 07-17-2008, 10:14 AM:
 
When I was doing pre-release screenings of movies, we were required to scan the audience with night vision looking to find anyone taping the movie. This was in addition to the security people hired by the studios to check pocketbooks and wanding people. You would be amazed at how clearly you could see things through the scope.
 

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Posted by Galen Murphy-Fahlgren (Member # 4535) on 07-17-2008, 11:31 AM:
 
Why not just use IR floodlamps? The video camera meters based on visible light, so the image will end up being grossly overexposed. Light meters with adequate response in excess of 720nm to thwart this measure are prohibitively expensive for doing screen rips.

And as for using IR filters on the camera, I don't recall exactly, but I think filters for completely blocking IR are similarly expensive. Put out enough IR to necessitate a high quality filter. If you make screen ripping expensive enough, there will be no incentive.
 

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Posted by Michael Hossen (Member # 4274) on 07-17-2008, 11:33 AM:
 
I was playing with the night vision tonight and I was amazed how clearly you can pick up people fornicating!
 

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Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 07-17-2008, 02:37 PM:
 
Wow -- I guess that will stop piracy dead in its tracks.

So if piracy is stopped, and the studios stop loosing the 23 billion dollars a year to it, will they drop the ticket prices? At the very least they should lower the percentage they charge the theatre.

Better yet, will the theatres send them a bill for the man/hours spent policing the rooms with these goggles? Or do the studios think they get this labor for free? By reason of what, exactly?
 

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Posted by Todd McCracken (Member # 4718) on 07-17-2008, 03:07 PM:
 
I seem to remember that a company was marketing a IR led system that sat behind the screen that effectively rendered any video of a presentation unusable.
 

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Posted by Andy Muirhead (Member # 712) on 07-17-2008, 08:04 PM:
 

quote: Dennis M Dow Jr

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You would be amazed at how clearly you could see things through the scope.

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quote: Frank Angel

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if piracy is stopped, and the studios stop loosing the 23 billion dollars a year to it, will they drop the ticket prices?

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quote: Tim Reed

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The film companies can't tell you what to charge for admission.

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quote: Frank Angel

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And again I say, how is it the studios expect the theatre owner to increase man/hours with staff using these night-vision things without compensation? How is it they think they get this for free? Would they ask Technicolor to put extra security details on their prints for free? But they have no problem just assuming that all they need to do is hand the theatre a pair of these goggles and poof, schedules will be rearrange, added responsibilities will be given to staff and it will all be paid for by the theatres. I say, pay the theatres for a "night-vision detail" crew, if they want that extra security, out of the money they save by all that piracy it will stop.

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quote: Frank Angel

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And how bout cutting them in on the savings just due to the fact that they had to endure crap codes in the picture and in the sound to prevent million of dollars lost to screen pirates?

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quote: Tim Reed

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The film companies can't tell you what to charge for admission.

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quote: Anslem Rayburn

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You seem to think that if a measure doesn't stop piracy dead in it's tracks and immediately result in better fees for theaters and theater patrons it is a stupid waste of resources. I disagree. We are partners with the studios. They have every right to expect us to protect their property while we are renting it.

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quote: Anslem Rayburn

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You seem to think that if a measure doesn't stop piracy dead in it's tracks and immediately result in better fees for theaters and theater patrons it is a stupid waste of resources. I disagree. We are partners with the studios. They have every right to expect us to protect their property while we are renting it.

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Now THIS is the way it should be done. If the studio is concerned about security and send THEIR paid people to police the audiences with whatever devices they want, be my guest. When we run previews, they send guards with the prints who are supposed to come up to the booth and sit there while I run the preview (sometimes they do, sometimes they don't -- it's five & half flights up with no elevator). Fine -- just tell me beforehand that you are sending someone as I have MY rules about that as well....partner. No objection.

And not for nuthin, but I haven't seen an usher or assistant manager or ANYONE come into a theatre where I was watching a movie for years now. It seems obvious to me that these theatres would have to change their staff -- more than likely even add some, because presently there staff is nowhere to be found when the film is out of frame for 15 minutes or when patrons actually start arguments or worse. So wherever they are when you need them, that's where they'll be but only they will be holding cool night-vision goggles while they are not in the theatre monitoring the audience.

As for the crap codes -- there are quite lengthy treads about that as well. Look, there are allot of things patrons don't complain about but that doesn't mean that they are not making an impression, for better or for worse. I don't think you will find many people here who will accept the argument that if a patron doesn't complain, it's OK. Would you let lab splices remain, making a tear in the image -- hey, it's only one frame; no one will complain....they'll HARDLY notice?

If an exhibitor only reacted when patrons had to make an effort to complain about negative impressions, that business will suffer. Crap codes don't enhance presentation, they detract from it. For those of us in the industry, that's something that should be considered unacceptable, especially given the barely plausible argument that marring presentations for every single honest, paying customer who'll see that movie will somehow stop the revenue lost to piracy. Has anyone actually seen anyone go to jail for piracy due to a cap code trail? If there are such instances, making them known within the industry would go a long way to justifying the use of this highly questionable practice.

[ 07-20-2008, 02:30 PM: Message edited by: Frank Angel ]
 

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Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 07-21-2008, 10:02 AM:
 

quote: Todd McCracken

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I seem to remember that a company was marketing a IR led system that sat behind the screen that effectively rendered any video of a presentation unusable.

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quote: Frank Angel

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What hurts Rolex more -- some cheap knockoff from China that a potential customer can spot as a fake from miles away, or one that even the experts have a hard time distinguishing and which can be sold by not-so-ethical jewelry stores?

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quote: MPAA

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Hong Kong - Operation Takedown, an Asia-Pacific wide anti-piracy enforcement operation launched by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) in May 2008, concluded at the end of July 2008. The operation resulted in the arrest of 461 suspected pirates, 56 camcorders caught in the act, as well as seizures of more than 7.5 million pirated optical discs and 1,000 optical disc burners, capable of producing hundreds of thousands of pirated movies a year and potentially millions in illicit revenue.

Nearly 600 raids were undertaken by enforcement authorities in 12 countries across the Asia-Pacific during Operation Takedown. As with previous similar operations, a focus on camcording as a root of piracy and the operation showed results - 56 of them were nabbed. The raids were also aimed at targeting the producers, distributors and sellers of pirated movies within the region, and particularly on the Internet. In tandem, governments across the region began to tighten their laws on camcording,
recognizing the damage that camcording cause to local film industries. Thailand is the latest to join the fray with a multi-pronged approach that includes a public outreach campaign, use of night vision goggles for cinema staff and a reward scheme, measures that were introduced in Hong Kong in July. In Hong Kong, plain clothes police officers will also patrol cinemas.

In the Philippines, a City Ordinance that criminalizes camcording in Manila has been passed and makes it punishable with jail time and fines. A 24-hour hotline has also been
set up to report instances of camcording. MPA in the meantime conducted training for cinema staff to identify camcorders and
prepped enforcement officers with basic knowledge of copyright law and to identify pirated products all around Asia.

Another highlight of Operation Takedown was the first ever cross-border enforcement action between Singapore and Malaysia against a DVD-smuggling syndicate operating online in both countries, in which four men were arrested.

In Taiwan, authorities seized a total of 548 burners during Operation Takedown. 329 burners capable of producing more than 15 million pirated discs a year were seized in one single raid, the biggest burner lab bust since 2004. Nearby in Hong Kong, officers raided 17 locations bringing down a substantial criminal syndicate smuggling in pirated discs from the Mainland China.

Chinese authorities have also been on piracy alert in the run up to the Olympics, clamping down on DVD piracy and running public campaigns against online piracy. Among the highlights of Operation Takedown were:

China: 21,757 infringing files taken down
4,114,051 pirated optical discs seized

Korea: 530,472 infringing files taken down

Malaysia: 182 burners seized
230,183 pirated optical discs seized

Philippines: 39 camcord interdictions
2,432,631 pirated optical discs seized

Taiwan: 154 raids conducted
548 burners seized
121 people arrested

Thailand: 141 raids conducted
110 people arrested

"Our anti-piracy actions have brought down a significant number of pirates all around theregion, whether they be burning DVDs in a lab somewhere or selling via the Internet. While we are pleased that 56 camcorders were caught red handed, there is still a long way to go to deter camcorders from thinking about breaking the law,” said Mike Ellis, President and Managing Director, Asia-Pacific for the Motion Picture Association. “With support from law enforcement agencies and strengthened laws against camcording, intellectual property rights protection will continue to remain top priority in this region.”

In the past four years, MPA has conducted eight bi-annual operations resulting in over 5,400 arrests and 39.5 million pirated optical discs seized.

Operation Takedown operations were conducted in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

# # #

Piracy in Asia
A comprehensive study aimed at producing a more accurate picture of the impact that piracy has on the film industry including, for the first time, losses due to internet piracy, recently calculated that the MPA studios lost US$6.1 billion to worldwide piracy in 2005. About US$2.4 billion was lost to bootlegging*, US$1.4 billion to illegal copying* and US$2.3 billion to Internet piracy. Of the US$6.1 billion in lost revenue to the studios, approximate US$1.2 billion came from piracy across the Asia-Pacific region, while piracy in the U.S. accounted for US$1.3 billion.

In 2007, the MPA’s operations in the Asia-Pacific region investigated more than 36,200 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in conducting nearly 13,000 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure of more than 31 million illegal optical discs, 40 factory optical disc production lines and 6,400 optical disc burners, as well as the initiation of more than 10,000 legal actions.

*Bootlegging: Obtaining movies by either purchasing an illegally copied VHS/DVD/VCD or acquiring hard copies of bootleg movies.

*Illegal copying: Making illegal copies for self or receiving illegal copies from friends of a legitimate VHS/DVD/VCD.

*Internet piracy: Obtaining movies by either downloading them from the Internet without paying or acquiring hard copies of illegally downloaded movies from friends or family.

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quote: some guy in charge

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there is still a long way to go to deter camcorders from thinking about breaking the law

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