Movie Pirates

Technology has advanced at a rapid rate these days. 5 years ago, I would not have guessed camcorders would be as prevalent as they are. And with those dangers, people have abused the power of the technology like with movie piracy. These scam artists go into a movie with a camcorder and record the screen. Then, at home they upload the tape to the internet and/or burn it onto cheap dvds.

If you go into urban areas, you will have a good chance of finding pirated dvds of movies still in theaters. These dvds are cheap because they probably were made using a tiny Aiptek pocket camcorder. Those types of camcorders aren’t made to be used in total darkness. Plus, you can hear the audience on the dvd. Who wants to have a laugh track to go along with the movie? Not me.

Still, it seems to be a growing issue. Movie studios are filming their own PSAs to warn against the dangers of film piracy. They even show these commercials against piracy before the trailers to deter activity. I had no idea it posed such a danger to the studios until a few years ago. I blame the lack of quality of the films on the proliferation of jacked dvds. Serious period dramas aren’t being recorded, but more often it’s the crappy comedy or horror film (like Hostel or Scary Movie 4, total garbage). To some, pirated movies are just a result of market over-saturation. And some people watch a crap dvd because it’s cheaper than wasting 10 bucks on a bad movie.

Either way it is still against the law. And I would never buy one myself. Serious filmmakers and moviegoers usually don’t get involved in it. And this is why these pirates aren’t using the best digital camcorders to capture the footage. They use whatever is good enough to pass off. They’re not investing a whole lot into the enterprise. You can tell if you’ve actually seen some of these recordings. They’re cheaply made and sold for only a few dollars usually. I’m not sure what other precautions can be made to prevent piracy. They already have major consequences and fines for violators. I hope that it doesn’t become such an issue that moviegoers are going to be searched before entering a theater. If so, then it will have truly gone too far.

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4. Pirates Mania