Posted by Fantomas at 67-23-52-205.chvlva.adelphia.net on January 23, 2004 at 14:11:54:
In Reply to: Oscar screener pirate suspected posted by AshFan on January 23, 2004 at 12:19:59:
EVERYBODY WINS!! And it is the American WAY.
In the Yahoo! News version, the FBI says this is the first arrest in the bootlegging of screeners in the U.S. So, in all of the years that VHS fucking screeners have been around, this is the first bootlegging arrest made by the FBI? This poor schmuck is the first cat to actually face the consequences of the FBI WARNING screen we've all come to know so well? Inconceivable. How hard would it be to trace these copies down if they reallllly wanted to. Think about it. They could embed a hidden serial on just one frame, in one small area of the film, to trace the flicks one by one, and to at least give themselves a general idea of where the bootlegs might be coming from. They are not doing simple things like this for a reason.
The MPAA knows, just as alllll these movie production companies know, that ANY extra ways to outlet and PROMOTE FOR FREE, across one of the biggest if not THE biggest source of information available, will be GLADLY embraced by the big time execs and is only going to result in more DOLLA$$$$ in the long run. People who download movies, still buy the movies they want anyway. So what if I see PAYCHECK a few days early, in considerably less quality that the orginal, maybe now I will go see it in the theater when it opens...maybe twice. Maybe get psyched to buy the DVD when it comes out. Or maybe, I'll say, "This movie isn't worth wasting my hard-earned-I-had-to-bust-my-fucking-ass-to-get ducets."
Why is it that unlike almost every other product sold in America, movies don't come with a guarantee of QUALITY OF PRODUCT? How many millions do they rake in again a year? Or is it billions? And no guarantees? MY BABY'S DADDY doesn't come with a money back guarantee? South Park said it best. We want to have our cake and eat it too here in the good ol' U S of A. The rules of this game are simple....
Don't get caught out of bounds.