Movie Piracy Security In Movie Theatres example essay topic

With the growing number of internet users participating in movie piracy, this creates a network of users who no longer need to go the movie theatre or video store to watch a movie. Movie piracy has grown enormously in the past few years making it easier than ever to find box office releases with the simple click of a button. This creates a world where it is okay to steal billions of dollars from movie producers, because most of those participating in piracy see nothing wrong with it. Although there are consequences for downloading copyrighted content, it is nearly impossible to prosecute each user who is downloading a particular movie. Instead of relying on punishing those who are downloading the content, it is most important to make this content unavailable getting rid of this problem altogether. In a recent survey conducted on 3600 internet users in nine countries, it was reported by the Motion Picture Association of America that twenty-four percent of internet users have downloaded a movie over the internet, and seventeen percent of those who hadn't said they expect to start within the next year (Pruitt).

Just about any internet user can easily find and download a movie within a few hours by typing its name into a search engine. With this method being more convenient and less costly than going to the movie theatre, it should not be a surprise that so many people are doing it". Only two years ago, it took 72 days to get a highly watchable version of 'Finding Nemo' online". (Hernandez) Today, in the world of movie piracy this would rarely happen though. Most box office releases are available online within a few days or even hours of the box office release. "Last summer's blockbuster 'Spider-Man 2,' for example, was downloadable in first-rate form within seven hours of its premiere to the public...

". (Hernandez). This shows that movie piracy is becoming more important to internet users, and piracy will continue to grow unless something is done about the problem. With the availability of pirated movies being so great, you cannot place all the blame on those who are downloading the files, or buying the bootlegs. The problem is those who make these files available.

The website. com lists releases of pirated movies, and the source of the release. The most common source for movie releases is CAM or (VCDQuality). This means the video was directly recorded with a camera in the movie theatre. The second most common way movies are pirated is through the copying of a screener, a pre-release for promotional use (VCDQuality). Both of these ways allow access to a movie while it is still in theatres affecting box office sales dramatically".

The MPAA estimates that piracy costs Hollywood $3.5 billion a year in lost ticket sales and home video rentals" (Bowles). This may not seem like much of a problem to those not involved in the MPAA, but as Dan Glickman, head of the MPAA said, referring to piracy, .".. an A-list actor isn't going to be hurt by it. This industry employs 750,000 people, most of whom don't make a ton of money. They " re hurting everyday folks just trying to make a living" (Bowles). And, although many internet users do not see anything wrong with piracy, it is stealing. Piracy could be compared to walking into a video store and stealing a video rather than purchasing it.

I'm sure many people would find this to be wrong, but would still continue to pirate movies. As I have already mentioned movie piracy happens everyday and costs Hollywood billions of dollars a year. Aside from costing actors money, piracy is also stealing. Piracy affects many internet users destroying their moral values, enticing those to steal who never in their right mind would think of doing so. Many of those users may not see anything wrong with piracy, because the problem is so widespread. This is why we must stop the problem before it hits home.

By decreasing the number of pirated releases we can diminish piracy, and allow internet users to realize that it is wrong. Because of the many sources of piracy it will take a few steps to make a difference, but it can be done by increasing security and enforcing laws. If these steps are taken movie piracy will no longer be a threat to anyone. The first step in diminishing piracy is to increase movie theatre security. Since the majority of pirated movies are made available through the recording of the movie at the movie theatre, increasing movie theatre security could make this source of piracy less threatening. Security in movie theatres, especially where I'm from, does not seem to be a concern of pirates.

Someone may come in once during the movie and quickly walk the length of the theatre. It is probably not even possible for the security guard to see if someone is recording the movie. This is why security must be increased. The MPAA should mandate that there always be some form of security personnel in the theatre while a film is playing. This could be done by checking the books to make sure there are enough employees scheduled during certain show times. This would cost movie theatres a little extra money but it could save the MPAA billions of dollars.

Aside from increasing security, laws must be put into place enforcing stricter punishments for camcorder usage in the theatre. A law has already been put into place in at least one state which says that "those caught operating a recording device in theaters face a $2,500 fine and up to one year in jail" (Garrison). This law is currently enforced in California, but what about the other states? Piracy can happen in any city in any state. We must enforce this law nationwide if we plan on making a difference.

With these laws and the added security, pirates will know we are not playing around and will think twice before attempting to wield a camcorder in a theatre. Movie theatres are not the only source of piracy though. Pre-released screener's also add to the number of pirated releases. To solve this problem the distribution of screener's should be kept at a minimum. By allowing only a few personnel to handle screener's, this will make it possible to keep them out of the wrong hands. This would also help to eliminate piracy done by those on the inside, making it possible to determine who is responsible for the piracy.

Screeners also raise another issue though. By limiting the number of personnel allowed to handle screener's this will not solve all the problems they create. Screeners are often distributed to video stores and other companies for promotional use, which is most likely where the majority of screener piracy occurs. After the distribution of a screener companies become careless and the screener may often fall into the wrong hands, making it almost impossible to determine the source of piracy. For this reason copy protection must be implemented into DVD screener's. With the growth of technology and the other forms of copy protection currently available it is a surprise to me that this has not already been implemented.

Napster currently uses a form of copy protection on their music file that does not allow them to be copied or played without the license. If this was implemented into screener's and DVDs in general this would cut down on piracy drastically. With the problem being so widespread and the solution being so straight forward it is a surprise that barely anything has been done to prevent piracy. Security is used in just about every aspect of life, and the problem of piracy is just as extensive as that of shoplifting, Even to use the same security in a movie theatre as you would in a department store makes perfect sense. With security in movie theatres currently being next to nothing and copy protection on DVDs being unheard of, the amount of piracy that occurs should not surprise us. We are living in the digital age where we should expect these types of activities and take the proper action.