brokenandtwisted
June 5th, 2007, 03:24 PM
Well...Canada doesn't have any pirating laws, at least extreme ones...but...:
Feds vow to lash movie pirates
OTTAWA (CP) - Hauling out a camcorder in the local cinema to pirate the latest blockbuster movie could soon carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.
The federal government introduced legislation Friday to make it a Criminal Code offence to illicitly record movies in theatres. The bill hit the Commons just two days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that Canada would crack down on piracy.
Under the present law, authorities have to show an illicit recording is being made for commercial use - which is difficult to prove in court.
Under the new bill, just recording a movie without permission can draw up to two years in jail, while taping a film for later sale or rental could carry a five-year penalty.
The movie industry has lobbied for years for a crackdown, saying piracy costs it billions of dollars a year.
Technology, including smaller, easily concealable, digital camcorders and Internet distribution links, has boosted the illicit industry.
Kevin Tierney, producer of the movie Bon Cop, Bad cop, says pirate versions of his film have surfaced in Baghdad and Beijing. He said 2,500 unauthorized DVD copies were seized just two days before the official release of the video.
"I once joked it was every Canadian producer's fantasy to see their movie pirated. I take that back," he told a Parliament Hill news conference, which included popcorn, cotton candy and a phalanx of beaming film industry executives..
"This bill amends the Criminal Code to directly confront film piracy," said Heritage Minister Bev Oda.
She said the legislation will avert a Warner Brothers threat to cancel Canadian preview showings of likely summer hits such as the latest Harry Potter sequel and George Clooney's Oceans 13.
The studio had threatened to cut Canada off from previews because of piracy and what it saw as lax Canadian law.
Oda said she's been told that Canada may be responsible for 20 to 25 per cent of all pirated movies.
Hollywood says it loses up to $6 billion a year to piracy, with half of that coming from videorecordings made in theatres.
Tierney said the money shouldn't go to thieves, especially in Canada where governments - and taxpayers - invest heavily in productions.
"This is our money," he said.
Oda said the bill isn't just protection for big studios.
"This will help protect the Canadian film industry from unauthorized recording that results in serious economic losses to distributors, producers, actors and technicians."
Source (http://technology.sympatico.msn.ca/Feds+vow+to+lash+movie+pirates/NewsandOpinions/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=28101020&feedname=CP-TECHNOLOGY&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc)
I do understand but seriously...S-M3 made what, 800 million so far world-wide and they're suffering from serious economic losses? Crock of shit...
Feds vow to lash movie pirates
OTTAWA (CP) - Hauling out a camcorder in the local cinema to pirate the latest blockbuster movie could soon carry a penalty of up to five years in prison.
The federal government introduced legislation Friday to make it a Criminal Code offence to illicitly record movies in theatres. The bill hit the Commons just two days after Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger that Canada would crack down on piracy.
Under the present law, authorities have to show an illicit recording is being made for commercial use - which is difficult to prove in court.
Under the new bill, just recording a movie without permission can draw up to two years in jail, while taping a film for later sale or rental could carry a five-year penalty.
The movie industry has lobbied for years for a crackdown, saying piracy costs it billions of dollars a year.
Technology, including smaller, easily concealable, digital camcorders and Internet distribution links, has boosted the illicit industry.
Kevin Tierney, producer of the movie Bon Cop, Bad cop, says pirate versions of his film have surfaced in Baghdad and Beijing. He said 2,500 unauthorized DVD copies were seized just two days before the official release of the video.
"I once joked it was every Canadian producer's fantasy to see their movie pirated. I take that back," he told a Parliament Hill news conference, which included popcorn, cotton candy and a phalanx of beaming film industry executives..
"This bill amends the Criminal Code to directly confront film piracy," said Heritage Minister Bev Oda.
She said the legislation will avert a Warner Brothers threat to cancel Canadian preview showings of likely summer hits such as the latest Harry Potter sequel and George Clooney's Oceans 13.
The studio had threatened to cut Canada off from previews because of piracy and what it saw as lax Canadian law.
Oda said she's been told that Canada may be responsible for 20 to 25 per cent of all pirated movies.
Hollywood says it loses up to $6 billion a year to piracy, with half of that coming from videorecordings made in theatres.
Tierney said the money shouldn't go to thieves, especially in Canada where governments - and taxpayers - invest heavily in productions.
"This is our money," he said.
Oda said the bill isn't just protection for big studios.
"This will help protect the Canadian film industry from unauthorized recording that results in serious economic losses to distributors, producers, actors and technicians."
Source (http://technology.sympatico.msn.ca/Feds+vow+to+lash+movie+pirates/NewsandOpinions/ContentPosting.aspx?isfa=1&newsitemid=28101020&feedname=CP-TECHNOLOGY&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc)
I do understand but seriously...S-M3 made what, 800 million so far world-wide and they're suffering from serious economic losses? Crock of shit...