16 Year Old gets busted for recording Spiderman 2 with a Camcorder

[purbeast0]

Linkified

LOS ANGELES -- A teenager was arrested early Wednesday in a California theater showing "Spider-Man 2" after a projectionist using night vision goggles saw him using a camcorder to make an illegal copy of the superhero sequel.

The 16-year-old could be charged under a law that went into effect Jan. 1 and makes taking a recording device into a movie theater a crime punishable by up to one year in jail and a maximum fine of $2,500.

The Los Angeles District Attorney's office will review the case and decide whether to charge the teen, who was released to his parents' custody, said Sgt. Mel Amoroso, a spokesman at the Los Angeles Police Department's Devonshire Division.

The film industry's trade group hailed the arrest and credited its recent initiative to offer cash rewards of up to $500 to theater employees who turn in moviegoers attempting to make illicit film copies.

"In theaters nationwide, there are now thousands of eyes looking for camcording-pirates and this incident proves that pirates who use these devices in theaters will be caught," said James W. Spertus, vice president and director of antipiracy operations for the Motion Picture Association of America.

Camcorders account for 92 percent of all illegal copies of films that are sold online and on street corners worldwide, according to the MPAA.

The teen, whose identity was not released, was among the throngs of midnight movie viewers across the country who crowded theaters for the debut of the "Spider-Man" sequel.

According to the MPAA, the projectionist at the Pacific Winnetka theater in the Los Angeles suburb of Chatsworth spotted the teen using a camcorder a few minutes into the start of the film. He and two others with him were removed from the theater and turned over to the police.

The camcorder contained a recording of the beginning of the film, the MPAA said. .

Heh that must suck. I don't get how, in a sold out midnight showing, no one else said anything to the boy?

 

[Fingolfin269]

What an idiot.

 

[StageLeft]

It is a repo

 

[Carbonadium4]

cool.. i recently got night vision goggles too.. let me go make some $$

 

[sygyzy]

I've always wondered that too. How can nobody else not notice or say something?

 

[Howard]

Loser!

 

[TheNinja]

[George]
I'm a bootlegger baby!!
[/George]

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
It is a repo

whats the other post? i searched Spiderman and Spider-Man and Spider Man. didnt come up with anything on it

 

[prvteye2003]

reminds me of the Seinfeld episode.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

It's a repost, but the topic of the fist one is pure crap.

"Caught videoing" was the original topic.

 

[DrPizza]

Let this be a lesson to the young amateur.

Next time, get the big $10 tub of popcorn.... cut a hole in it for the lense to shoot through, and cover the camera first with a layer of plastic to keep the crumbs out, then with as much popcorn as necessary.

I'd almost guarantee that I could go to a drive-in theater and not get caught using a camcorder - plus, I could capture the sound in stereo directly from the FM broadcast.

Regardless, I wouldn't do it though. But, I think you'd have to be a moron to just go into a crowded theater, and expect to hold up your camcorder in plain view of everyone around you.

And, why on earth would you need night vision goggles?? It's not *that* dark in a theater.

 

[Ender]

The Calculus teacher speaks!

 

[yukichigai]

Well I admire his efforts but there's already like 5 versions of the movie out on the web.

Ya know what I wonder? I wonder why the groups that do this stuff don't spend some time getting good audio recordings of the movie. Half the time it's godawful audio that is the problem, not video. If they'd just get two guys to sit on either side of the theater (or 5 if they want 5.1 sound) with tape recorders the releases would be so much nicer.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: GRIFFIN1
It's a repost, but the topic of the fist one is pure crap.

"Caught videoing" was the original topic.

Agreed. This is a valid mistake.

Carry on, et al.

- Repost Nazi

 

[isekii]

You have to leave the bootlegging to the Chinese.
They're #1 imo.

Look at the quality of the SVCDs that comes out.

 

[Ranger X]

Originally posted by: prvteye2003
reminds me of the Seinfeld episode.

But I wonder if he was as good a bootlegger as Jerry was ...

 

[jdiddy]

Originally posted by: isekii
You have to leave the bootlegging to the Chinese.
They're #1 imo.

Look at the quality of the SVCDs that comes out.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Heh that must suck. I don't get how, in a sold out midnight showing, no one else said anything to the boy?

1) Nobody gives a sh|t.
2) Everything thinks that it's not their job to stand up to those doing illegal things.

 

[imported_Strang]

Originally posted by: FFMCobalt

Heh that must suck. I don't get how, in a sold out midnight showing, no one else said anything to the boy?

1) Nobody gives a sh|t.
2) Everything thinks that it's not their job to stand up to those doing illegal things.

3) Everyone around him is thinking "Well, at least it's not a cell phone."

 

[yukichigai]

Originally posted by: Strang
3) Everyone around him is thinking "Well, at least it's not a cell phone."

Seconded. :thumbsup:

 

[Jynx980]

If I had night vision goggles I would be looking for young people getting it on in the back row, then I would ask to borrow the camcorder, then I would sell the tape for way more then $500. Would that make me a pr0ntrepreneur?

 

[Koing]

What an idiot.

Koing

 

[neutralizer]

Originally posted by: yukichigai
Well I admire his efforts but there's already like 5 versions of the movie out on the web.

Ya know what I wonder? I wonder why the groups that do this stuff don't spend some time getting good audio recordings of the movie. Half the time it's godawful audio that is the problem, not video. If they'd just get two guys to sit on either side of the theater (or 5 if they want 5.1 sound) with tape recorders the releases would be so much nicer.

They can always do telesync/cide.

 

[ABitTooSpicy]

Reminds me of the Sienfield episode when Jerry is bootlegging...

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: isekii
You have to leave the bootlegging to the Chinese.
They're #1 imo.

Look at the quality of the SVCDs that comes out.

Chinese get it straight from the source. Americans are so behind, pffft.