AfterDawn: News

New York wants stricter punishments for film pirates

The New York Attorney General has proposed a new legislation this week, one that would inflict heaver penalties and punishments on "cammers", people who record movies in theaters illegally and then distribute them or sell them directly.

The new legislation will make camming a felony offense for repeat offenders. The Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, says the legislation is designed partially to fight "the economic harm" that is caused by movie pirates. He added that those who sell counterfeit items costs the city's taxpayers 140,000 jobs annually.



Of course the MPAA applauded the move, and added that "U.S. film studios lost $6.1 billion in 2005 to piracy globally."

"This is modern-day organized crime," Cuomo said, adding in a statement: "The wide distribution of pirated films originating from New York costs our state vital economic resources, including thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue."

The newly dubbed "Piracy Protection Act" would make illegal recording a misdemeanor (like a parking ticket) for a first time offender and a felony for repeat offenders. For a misdemeanor, the fine is $1000 USD and up to one year in jail. Cuomo did not say exactly how much worse the penalties were for a felony offense.

NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker joined Cuomo in announcing the legislation and added, "Enhanced penalties and specialized, dedicated enforcement resources are key to fighting piracy and counterfeiting."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 6 May 2008 15:08

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• 19 comments

• iluvendo

  OK by me.

  6.5.2008 15:51 #1

• club42

  Quote:including thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue."
  Sure. How could the theaters compete with a shaky picture and crappy sound. Thats a first to say that its costing the state money and not the studios.

  6.5.2008 19:07 #2

• iluvendo

  To the greedy, money is everything.
  

  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck!
  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition

  6.5.2008 19:26 #3

• club42

  Ya, convince people that it will make their taxes go up and their sure to drop the hammer.

  6.5.2008 20:37 #4

• o0cynix0o

  How does movie piracy and state revenue go together????
  
  Maybe they mean the tax on movie tickets???
  
  If Hollywood would put out something that doesn't suck maybe I'd pay to go see it.

  6.5.2008 21:50 #5

• ivymike

  "This is modern-day organized crime," Cuomo said, adding in a statement: "The wide distribution of pirated films originating from New York costs our state vital economic resources, including thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in tax revenue."
  
  Sounds like the Pot calling the Kettle black.

  6.5.2008 23:33 #6

• fungyo

  Sure sure... it cost jobs and tax revenue. So what they're saying here (how I see it) is that if they don't spend their money on theatre tickets they just won't spend their money on anything else. i'm sure people burn the money they save from not purchasing tickets.
  
  it's only less money for the media mafia, which imo is a good thing.
  
  Also every time i read these articles, the figures are ALWAYS different.
  One guy says we lose this much, another guy says this much and so on.
  Still we are yet to see any proof.

  6.5.2008 23:44 #7

• Blackjax

  I agree, the figures on "losses" change constantly. These people couldn't count to twenty without both shoes off! Actually they are angry that they don't have us in a corner like the oil companies do! You can survive without seeing movies in the theater but you must have fuel/gas/petrol to go to your soon to be shipped overseas job........
  
  
  Uh reality sux! Bring on the next "blockbuster"..... just kidding!

  7.5.2008 02:28 #8

• nobrainer

  It's just the anti-consumer lobby rattling their sabres as loud as possible as the pro ip act is about to hit the floor and this time Sony, Universal, Warner, Disney, Paramount, EMI & FOX want your home if you commit copywrite infringement + they are trying to turn it into a criminal offence so that the tax payer has to fund their dirty tactics.
  
  Copy a CD, owe $1.5 million under "gluttonous" PRO-IP Act
  Originally posted by link: Not content with the current (and already massive) statutory damages allowed under copyright law, the RIAA is pushing to expand the provision. The issue is compilations, which now are treated as a single work. In the RIAA's perfect world, each copied track would count as a separate act of infringement, meaning that a copying a ten-song CD even one time could end up costing a defendant $1.5 million if done willfully. Sound fair? Proportional? Necessary? Not really, but that doesn't mean it won't become law.
  
  Controversial Pro-IP Act sails through Judiciary Committee
  Originally posted by hyper: The bill would create a new position for a federal copyright enforcement czar, establish a new copyright enforcement division within the Department of Justice, and would also permit law enforcement agents to seize property from perpetrators of copyright infringement.
  BOYCOTT all the MPAA, RIAA, OVERLORDS, media and hardware ppl, its the only way to stop them from screwing us over.
  
  
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.
  

  7.5.2008 02:53 #9

• susieqbbb

  This is funny because all illegal movies come from other countrys and not from new york and even if you take the challenge of increasing punishment i can go on vacation in california and purchase illegal dvd's and bring them back with me on my plane trip home to new york so why in the heck do they think this is going to do anything.

  7.5.2008 03:04 #10

• emugamer

  Originally posted by susieqbbb: This is funny because all illegal movies come from other countrys and not from new york and even if you take the challenge of increasing punishment i can go on vacation in california and purchase illegal dvd's and bring them back with me on my plane trip home to new york so why in the heck do they think this is going to do anything.They know that it's not going to make a difference. But they have to make the cry now,so that tax increases can be justified.

  7.5.2008 11:47 #11

• iluvendo

  Originally posted by emugamer: Originally posted by susieqbbb: This is funny because all illegal movies come from other countrys and not from new york and even if you take the challenge of increasing punishment i can go on vacation in california and purchase illegal dvd's and bring them back with me on my plane trip home to new york so why in the heck do they think this is going to do anything.Quote:They know that it's not going to make a difference. But they have to make the cry now,so that tax increases can be justified.
  Ooooh, Soooo True !!!!
  

  If it wasn't for bad luck, I'd have no luck!
  "The flimsier the product,the higher the price"
  Ferengi 82nd rule of aquisition

  7.5.2008 20:02 #12

• fgamer

  And this is exactly why allot of American streets have so much drugs, violence, gangs and killings. Because the real problems are being ignored, and they wonder why the jails and prisons here are over crowded.

  7.5.2008 23:16 #13

• varnull

  edited by ddp Remind people of proper values instead of BS and greed.. and WTF are they building on that site that was forever going to be a park in remembrance??? yup.. more office skyscrapers..
  
  It's a craphole of a city anyways.. I'm surprised people dare to carry cameras around.

  7.5.2008 23:26 #14

• ddp

  jan!!!!

  8.5.2008 00:04 #15

• varnull

  well?? the people running that city want to remember that they only run by consensus (and bribery)
  
  Personally I don't care what they do over there to you poor oppressed downtrodden "free" people.. so long as it doesn't affect me.. trouble is.. it does affect all of us. Look at the stupid airport security BS.. talk about closing the stable door........ anyways.. I would charter a plane if I wanted to pull that one again.. no checks then ;)
  
  So what if a few people make some poor cams of cinema releases.. If the studios had the smallest bit of common sense they would release 640x480 and no extras rips the same day the film comes out at say $5 in a card sleeve..stick them on the news stands. vcd even. Then there would be no market for this kind of product and the problem would vanish overnight!!! Saving taxpayers and the cinemas and the justice system huge amounts of money.. Taxpayers should be in uproar about their tax money being used to prop up the greed and profits of massive monopolistic corrupt politician buying businesses... just because they are too stupid to see a demand and fill that void.
  
  Then we have all these hated laws and restrictions flooding out and being enforced on the rest of the world by economic bully boy tactics. Do what we say or sanctions etc.. well GTFO USA.. I'm not listening.
  
  The US is becoming pretty hated, and not just by Islam. One mans terrorist is another mans freedom fighter.. mark my words. At least we eventually paid our debts and got the yankee military off our soil. When are they going to cease that illegal invasion of Cuba and go home where they belong??? eh? eh?
  
  Greed and Profit uber alles... Gentlemen start your engines!!
  
  ;) that should stir it up.
  

  
  
  Free open source software = made by end users who want an application to work....

  8.5.2008 00:24 #16

• juankerr

  ^^^Ugh.
  
  You know it's one thing to complain about excessive penalties for cammers...
  
  ...but to wish for another 9/11 type attack just to prove a point is clearly the height of bad taste and insensitivity.

  8.5.2008 00:50 #17

• ddp

  2nd that.

  8.5.2008 13:59 #18

• qazwiz

  that law will further shrink the audience in new york movie theaters... those cammers are paying $12 to be there and there could easilly be a couple dozen of them if they all are upping torrents (more if some son't up torrents)
  
  but will it stop the cammers, of course not... all they have to do is drive or take the bus to jersey... the trip will be financed, at least in part, by the lower movie prices and the same poor quality cam torrents will still be there only delayed by a one or two hour round trip commute
  
  also note, the cammers will be paying their conscession money in jersy instead of new york too (also slightly cheaper)
  
  so the 100,000 jobs lost in New York by this equally bogus mass exodus will just move to New Jersey
  
  meanwhile, anyone who doesn't know the quoted figures, jobs and money, is fictiously created from inflated estimates and faulty logic (you can't get blood from a turnip) should line up in a chicago auto mechanic's garage and wait for St. Valentines Day
  
  there ain't 140,000 people unemployed in movie theaters in all the east coast this last year so even if it were the reason for loss of jobs the figures are a lie.... as the $6 billion dollars manufactured by the movie liars quoted... there is no way that that much would have been spent if there was no piracy... no one is holding onto that much money to spend, ALSO, since that much money going into LA's pockets would have to come from somewhere, there wouldn't be more jobs in New York, there would be much less.... the roughly half a billion dollars exodus from New York to the greedy hands of movie executives means 50 million less work hours could be paid thats more than one million work weeks which comes to over 20,000 people who could not be paid $10 per hour for full time employment because that $6 million needed to be pait to LA instead of to the hard working New Yorkers

  8.6.2008 23:09 #19