Cinemark Tosses Elderly Woman Out Of Theater, Claiming She Was Filming A Movie With Her Phone

from the punchline:-she-wasn't dept

Thu, May 1st 2014 8:13pm — Mike Masnick

The MPAA has been pushing its strict take all prisoners approach to force movie theaters into pissing off nearly all movie goers by wildly accusing anyone with a mobile phone of destroying the entire US economy. Or something like that. We've already seen theaters call in Homeland Security when a guy so much as dared to wear his Google Glass during a movie. And now, the latest story of MPAA-driven excess, as revealed by TorrentFreak, involves Cinemark ejecting an elderly woman because she had an old "brick, slider-type" mobile phone, which her husband handed to her as he had to leave. There is also a theory that someone else in the theater saw her theater-provided closed captioning device and assumed that it was a recording device. Either way, the lady (who is not a fluent English speaker, and had trouble understanding the commotion) was ejected from the theater, even though theater employees realized she was not recording the movie.

Phew! Another pirate stymied!

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Filed Under: copyright, enforcement, movie theaters
Companies: cinemark, mpaa

56 Comments

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Reader Comments

The First Word

“

A "great" idea to end movie piracy

Allow nobody in theaters, so that way nobody can illegally cam movies!

—Anonymous Coward

”

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Ryuugami, 1 May 2014 @ 8:34pm

Putting aside all the other stupidities for a moment, even if she was recording the movie... Has anyone of these bozos actually seen what a cellphone recording looks like, and are they asserting that the theater experience is of the same (lack of) quality?

In any case, another theater-goer successfully prevented from wanting to go to the theater ever again! Good job, movie industry!
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Violynne (profile), 1 May 2014 @ 8:38pm

"Phew! Another pirate stymied!"

Really? Last time I checked, Dodd was still there.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 8:39pm

Staying at home.
I will stick with my 18' pro screen, 1080p projector, 5.1 surround system and a connection to all the best torrent sites in my basement theater. Besides, my buttered popcorn is better and the pop isnt flat.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 8:50pm

This is what happens when you put a $500 dollar bounty out on people's heads, for any information leading to the arrest of a theater camer.

https://torrentfreak.com/mpaa-wants-advanced-anti-piracy-measures-at-movie-theaters-131114/

It turns fellow movie goers into money hungry snitches, who will even snitch out old ladies, if it means an easy payday.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 8:51pm

Here is an idea...
Don't pull out a device that disrupts people during a movie and you might not have management called on you.

While I do not agree with piracy BS they accused them of or calling law enforcement or DHS on them, I would still support the business removing them for disrupting other patrons trying to enjoy the show.

Disability or no, being able to whip out a display device in the middle of a dark theater to assist you is not the same as needing a handicapped parking spot to grocery shop.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 8:56pm

Re: Here is an idea...
The poor old lady was using a theater-provided closed captioning device, because she wasn't fluent in english. Shame on the movie theater for entrapping her.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 8:57pm

Re:
I would never report anyone to the MPAA for recording a movie, but I would report them to management if they decided that disrupting my experience with blinking lights and displays was in order.

I hate the MPAA/RIAA, and think that if we cannot get our congress critters under control then we should mass pirate everything until they figure it out or go out of business.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 9:01pm

Re: Re: Here is an idea...
Actually yes, shame on the theater for this IF THE THEORY of this being the case is true.

That still does not change my opinion on inconveniencing others for their benefit. I think a good remedy would be for theater operators to provide a special showing where these devices are allowed and that patrons are notified so that they can opt to avoid these disruptions.
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OldGeezer (profile), 1 May 2014 @ 9:04pm

Who wants to watch a shitty cammed movie anyway? I've never downloaded one but I was at a friends house and saw what he was watching and the quality was terrible. When I commented about it he told me that it was actually one of the better cams that he had seen. Why not just wait and watch it on HBO or Netflix? There are plenty of ways to watch high definition movies legally or otherwise.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 9:08pm

A "great" idea to end movie piracy
Allow nobody in theaters, so that way nobody can illegally cam movies!
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That One Guy (profile), 1 May 2014 @ 9:10pm

Re: Re:
Nah, don't pirate, do worse, ignore them entirely. Don't go to the theater, don't buy their movies, don't even give them the attention of pirating their stuff, just let them rot and move on to other sources of entertainment.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 10:19pm

Re: Staying at home.
Cosigned. I can put Kerrygold Garlic&Herb butter on mine, make vegosas and other twisted juices, and bun up with the girl or girls on the oversized bean bag in complete privacy.

Living well is the best everything.
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Bpat, 1 May 2014 @ 10:33pm

Re: Re: Re: Here is an idea...
And that is called discrimination.
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JoeCool (profile), 1 May 2014 @ 10:36pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Here is an idea...
Just make them sit in the back of the theater. ;)
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 11:14pm

And now you can pay to obtain a theater experience like no other. /s

So I want to pay for the chance to go through this? I quit going to theaters long ago over poor theater experiences. There is nothing I am missing including the wonderful feeling of being held at gun point over concession prices.

I commend the theater for creating another customer who will no longer be going to their establishment.
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Anonymous Coward, 1 May 2014 @ 11:58pm

Re:
Not in Australia.

"Why not just wait and watch it on HBO or Netflix? There are plenty of ways to watch high definition movies legally or otherwise."

They are even killing VPN services to Netflix. So... I agree cams are crap. I just wait for a dvd rip.

Hey Hollywood? Want my money??? License Netflix here you dopey dinosaucers!
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 1:45am

just think of the number of people who didn't copy the movie she wasn't trying to secretly record! it could have been thousands!!
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Jay (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 1:56am

But Mike...
You just don't like copyright being enforced.

That old lady had it coming!
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 2:06am

Re: A "great" idea to end movie piracy
I think this is where the movie industry intends to take things.

They have identified the enemy; it is the public.

Initial 'soft' attempts to get them not to show up have failed; despite the insane prices, the forced technologies nobody asked for, and the general degradation of the movie-going experience, people still showed up in droves. In fact, record after record kept getting broken.

So they started to introduce more and more hard rules, that they could use to actively remove people from the theaters.

The goal seems to be to always keep every theater nice and empty, none of those annoying people should be allowed in. Then the movies can be shown in peace.

Of course, people would be disinclined to pay for those movies, so there will have to be a law that says they must pay for it anyway. Just a couple of bucks per person per move should do nicely, since they don't actually get to see it.

Unfortunately this isn't even as crazy as it sounds, apparently. Don't know about the US, but over here we have a so-called 'home copy tax', which isn't actually a tax as it is collected by a private company, but we do have to pay them for *every* storage medium we buy, just because it *could* potentially be used to make private (legal!) copies of copyrighted material.
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Andy, 2 May 2014 @ 2:08am

Re: Re: Re:
Sadly, there are those that use the cinema as a date night, an expensive one, but a easy way to spend time with someone and with a movie to talk about when you go for dinner after or when you are driving home.

Sadly the movie execs know youngsters take their date to the cinema,what we all need is something just as cool for people to do, maybe a game center that is as enticing, something where you can relax with someone and watch a game being played or join in yourself, maybe an adventure movie with you voting the way the movie goes, something, anything to break the cinema trend people have.
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David, 2 May 2014 @ 3:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re:
Well, go to an arcade then. But be prepared to get arrested for copyright violation if that inspires you to tell her "Wizard needs food -- badly."
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PaulT (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 3:36am

"There is also a theory that someone else in the theater saw her theater-provided closed captioning device and assumed that it was a recording device."

Well, if that's true, it's really the logical conclusion to this bullshit. They've got themselves so scared of the boogeyman they created, they're directly attacking their own customers because they *might* have been doing something wrong. They didn't bother to even confirm what was happening, they just ejected a legal patron quite possibly not breaking the law in any way, and have lost at least one customer in the process.

The best part of this is that, whatever the truth, these actions are meaningless. If the movie was on general release, it was almost certainly available online long before this woman ever bought a ticket, and probably in a higher quality format.
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PaulT (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 3:45am

Re: Here is an idea...
"Don't pull out a device that disrupts people during a movie and you might not have management called on you."

Don't pull out the device that the theatre provided to you for the purposes of using it during the screening, else management will be called and you'll be ejected? I bet this makes some sense in your mind, but nobody else's.

I can see you're rejecting this particular aspect of the story because it's convenient to your argument, but what of the rest of the story? There's no indication that the phone was turned on, pointed at the screen or otherwise disrupting other patrons. just a paranoid brainwashed idiot assuming the worst, and nobody bothering to check the facts before assuming the woman was a pirate.

The fool who called the cops on the woman and got her thrown out almost certainly caused more disruption to the screening than anyone using a phone could have done.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 3:47am

Re:
That's the problem right there, the quality is so bad you can't appreciate the special effects and boobs. And that's where all the money went.
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OldGeezer (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 3:49am

Re: Re:
You are right. It is time for Australia to hold massive protests against the incredibly corrupt system that either makes much programing unavailable or ridiculously expensive. Certainly you have politicians being paid off to keep this corrupt system going. I know in America lobbyists are funneling massive funds into the campaign coffers of congressmen who can be bought by the highest bidder. They knot that if they are voted out of office they will have a "consultant" job earning obscene amounts with the companies that bought their votes while in office. Thankfully we still have a few honest lawmakers who will stand up against the big money interests like Ron Wyden and Justin Amash.
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Niall (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 4:29am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
OOh, fantastic! I miss that game!
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 4:32am

Before long we're going to have TSA checkpoints before you're allowed to watch a movie.
"Please remove your shoes, sir. We want to make sure it's not a recording device. "
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lucidrenegade (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 4:59am

I've whipped out a lot of things in the theater, but a CC device wasn't one of them.
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me@me.net, 2 May 2014 @ 5:11am

all the more reason to use netflix etc
And not go out to the movies. If shitheads like this are going to take a dump on their customers then let their business die off and them get out of business.

It isnt like hollywood has produced anything groundbreaking in the last decade anyway.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 5:41am

Re: Re: Here is an idea...
I agree that the Cinema where total ass hats for this.

Remember HOW it got reported is just a theory! It does not mean that she did not ALSO pull out their own device with an even more distracting display during the movie.

Maybe you are the one reading things and twisting it to convenience your argument?

I do agree with your remark on brainwashed paranoid idiocy though, and people not checking facts. There are still too many unknowns to just take the stance that the patron was purely innocent. I believe there is enough known to at least tarnish the name of the theater based on the reaction however.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 5:46am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Here is an idea...
Really?

Creating a special venue or posting a notice where people can use display devices during an event where such devices typically annoy others is discrimination?

I guess for you, someone not liking cars with black paint are racist too huh?
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 5:47am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Here is an idea...
This would probably be the best idea, restrict the back row to device users for special needs that way other do not see it, and those sitting on the back row are aware that such activity is intended for that row.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 6:25am

I wonder if there's a video of this happening. You know, from one of the other people recording the movie. Because apparently that's what the MPAA thinks is happening.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 6:27am

And they wonder why attendance has plummeted.
Not the brightest bulb in the projector - huh.
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lars626, 2 May 2014 @ 6:35am

The truth
Am I the only one that sees what is happening here?

1. MPAA hassles cinema owners.
2. Cinema owners hassle customers.
3. Customers stay home.
4. Cinemas go out of business.
5. In order to stay in business studios have to cut a deal that is to the advantage of cable networks.
6. Cable networks raise prices on premium channels, profits go up.
Conclusion: Covert agents of cable networks have infiltrated the MPAA and are generating the original chaos. Why does no one see the obvious?
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David, 2 May 2014 @ 6:42am

Re: Re:
the quality is so bad you can't appreciate the special effects and boobs. And that's where all the money went.

And that's a real danger for society. If the movie billionaires don't feel boob jobs offer a sufficient return of investment for their pocket money, they'll invest in congressmen and hitmen rather than beauty surgeons and pay for tax cuts rather than scalpel cuts and copyright extensions rather than dick extensions.

And before you realize it, things have progressed to a state where you feel like you are living in the U.S.A.
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Colin, 2 May 2014 @ 6:50am

It's funny, because recorded movies are awful and the good stuff comes from screeners that THE STUDIOS provide to media outlets/reviewers. So who is really enabling piracy?
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David, 2 May 2014 @ 6:51am

Re: The truth
Your conspiracy theory is based on the assumption that stupidity requires a reason.

We are talking about the U.S.A. here, the home to ultimate stupidity, with a special offer on corporate stupidity.

The system has been set to "self-destruct", and the sole reason and justification is "yes, we can". And not more than that is actually needed.
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Jay (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 6:53am

Re: Re: A "great" idea to end movie piracy
... Where is the home copy tax in the law?

Now I'm interested...
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 7:05am

Re:
I'll bet they were ticked-- damn cops ruined their good bootleg with all that commotion.
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Anonymous Coward, 2 May 2014 @ 7:08am

Re:
Yes sir, a body cavity search is standard procedure before entering the theatre. Got to stop those crappy pirates.
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Rich, 2 May 2014 @ 8:51am

Re:
I think they are worried people will see how dreadful the movie is BEFORE they pay to see it in the theater.
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art guerrilla (profile), 2 May 2014 @ 10:56am

Re: Re: Re:
@ that one guy-
dude, i agree with your posts 99% of the time, but on this one you are spitting into the wind...

1. i guess you aren't married ? UNLESS your spousal unit shares your disdain of the MAFIAA, etc AS MUCH as you do, you have lost right out of the gate...
*I* can declare i'm going to boycott the MAFIAA, etc until i'm blue in the face, but that don't mean shit if SWMBO decides we ARE going to go to the movies...
2. EVEN IF we told relatives that we didn't want movie gift cards, i bet we would still get them...
3. hell, i couldn't get SWMBO to go more than two months cutting the cord before she got delerium tremens and had to re-up our stupid satellite shit...
4. further, you don't have kids or grandmonsters do you ? so YOU are going to be geoffrey dahmer, hitler, al qaeda, and a somali pirate all wrapped into one scumbag person for telling your grandmonsters that No, we *aren't* going to go see the latest disney crap because they are EEEE-VIL...
yeah, that will go over real well...
(WORST grandparents evah! ! !)
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Anonymous Coward, 3 May 2014 @ 7:16am

Re: Re: The truth
"We are talking about the U.S.A. here, the home to ultimate stupidity"

A majority of those in the us are not stupid, but they are not in positions of influence.
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jayess99 (profile), 3 May 2014 @ 9:07am

lady evicted from theater
where did this happen? what is the name of the theater?
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anonymous theater dude, 3 May 2014 @ 10:57am

True Pirates
The overwhelming majority of in-theater piracy comes from employees of the theaters. They are the ones with unrestricted access to the projectors and auditoriums. Anybody who has worked in the industry knows that they are responsible for ALL the high quality recordings out there.
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John Fenderson (profile), 3 May 2014 @ 2:11pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
"*I* can declare i'm going to boycott the MAFIAA, etc until i'm blue in the face, but that don't mean shit if SWMBO decides we ARE going to go to the movies.."

Isn't that the truth?

I do my best to avoid giving any money to MPAA movies, but date night can't be avoided!
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JP Jones (profile), 3 May 2014 @ 8:29pm

Re: Re: The truth
I think Hanlon's razor applies here:

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity."
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Kevin (profile), 3 May 2014 @ 11:19pm

More freedoms eroded
I wonder what soldiers who have fought for freedoms think about these sorts of actions? Was all their sacrifices just a useless waste?
They might as well have let Hitler win because slowly the USA, UK and Australia are turning into the very fascist states they defeated.
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JP Jones (profile), 4 May 2014 @ 4:11am

Re: More freedoms eroded
They might as well have let Hitler win because slowly the USA, UK and Australia are turning into the very fascist states they defeated.

Godwin's law already?

U.S. soldiers, in general, aren't really fighting for freedom. Protecting our rights and freedoms is the job of Congress and the American people. The soldier's job is to fight our enemies, whomever, whenever, and wherever they are.

To be honest most service members rarly worry about things like "fighting for freedom" but instead are worried about keeping the guy to the left and the right alive because they're your brother or sister. Our job is to win, to be America's sword and shield.

Theoretically the people wielding that weapon are the American people. It doesn't always work out but it's not the military's job to decide whether or not a war should be fought, it's our job to win it. And we've done a darn good job overall.

Politics and military service don't mesh well. There are things I can say anonymously as an American citizen that would be problamatic if I were to say them in an official capacity as myself. This is very hard to understand if you've never been in the service as I don't see this as a violation of free speech, even though politically I'm a huge supporter of nearly ubiquitous free speech. I simply don't want people taking what I, as an American citizen, say as what my military service is saying. Unfortunately it's very difficult for people to separate the two once associated.

I do believe the U.S. has gone astray. Yet I still have faith in my country. The fight isn't over, and the world of today is not necessarily the world of tomorrow.

That being said...this whole scenario is retarded. This is exactly why I don't go to movie theaters anymore. The fact that we have these strict anti-recording laws for so many states is a travesty. Since when is it the state's job to protect a specific type of business? Ludicrous.
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Digger, 4 May 2014 @ 8:42pm

Re: Here is an idea...
Here's an idea - shut the hell up and read the story first.

Her husband had to go to the restroom, handed her an old slider phone, probably didn't have anything more advanced than a 1 megapixel still camera in it, if anything at all.

She had a theater provided hearing device.

She didn't *whip* out anything, it was clearly an idiot behind her and more idiots of the theater's employ.

I would sue the theater operator, the employees and the person who lied. Suffering, mental anguish, etc...
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Digger, 4 May 2014 @ 8:44pm

Re: But Mike...
@Jay - go back to trollsville and grade school while you're at it.

She had it coming? Not even close. But you've got a lot of karma coming to mess your life up, and we'll all be laughing our asses off when it arrives.
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Digger, 4 May 2014 @ 8:53pm

MPAA / RIAA Math explains stupidity complex
The MPAA / RIAA follow a modified form of the volts, amps, watts formula....

Watts = Volts * Amps
Volts = Watts / Amps
Amps = Watts / Volts

For these *AA asshats, it's woefully apparent that
they've never studied math.

Stupidity = OO - The root of their math problems.
Wealth = Greed / Stupidity = always rounds down to 0.0
Greed = Stupidity * Wealth = exceeds double long int
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Digger, 4 May 2014 @ 8:55pm

Re: Re: More freedoms eroded
why do you think we have many of our troops abroad right now?

It's because the government knows that right now, it is the government that is the American people's worst enemy.

The enemy which our armed forces are sworn to defend the people against.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 May 2014 @ 8:13am

Re: Re: Re: A "great" idea to end movie piracy
In the Netherlands; don't know if there is a translation, but it's in article 16c of the 'auteurswet' (our copyright law; slightly better named the 'authors law' since copyright limits the right to copy instead of defining it).

I know Belgium has it as well but don't know the details.

There was some discussion on it when they updated it last year:

http://www.dutchdailynews.com/dutch-government-introduces-new-media-tax/
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Pragmatic, 6 May 2014 @ 7:00am

Re: Re: But Mike...
Digger, your sarcasm detector needs re-calibrating, buddy.
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