more on How the MPAA killed the movie theater experience: a first-hand report [ip]

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: November 5, 2005 5:58:01 PM EST
To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: RE: How the MPAA killed the movie theater experience: a  
first-hand report [ip]

What is the legal status of banning personal computing devices which  
might
be vital for safety or for dealing with disabilities?

The personal connected devices can also be vital for monitoring  
others. In
the days of two-paging I remember getting the message "The babysitter  
fell
asleep -- what should I do". Of course I don't turn off my devices -- I
just change the notification to vibrate and can use messaging  
(assuming the
screen isn't too bright).

As with the Sony's home (PC) invasion -- we have people traipsing all  
over
acting as if they own the place and only their needs matter or are even
real.

Well, it could be worse -- they could ban you from leaving the  
theater with
any memory of your experience.


-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 17:33
To: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: How the MPAA killed the movie theater experience: a first-hand
report [ip]



Begin forwarded message:

From: Patrick Pittman <patrick () concrete org au>
Date: November 5, 2005 9:50:34 AM EST
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: How the MPAA killed the movie theater experience: a
first-hand report [ip]

Dave,

This is nothing new -- I've been reviewing films down here in
Australia for ten years or so, and I first sighted the metal
detectors somewhere round about 2000. The "put your phone in a bag
and get it at the end" trick has been running for about two years,
annoying the hell out of all of us would-be pirates that want to
rebroadcast new releases via our half megapixel phonecam. When
challenged as to what _purpose_ this serves, no security guy or film
company rep has ever given me a useful answer. I've taken to leaving
my phone at home to save the trouble and arguments.

The night-vision goggles first appeared, if memory serves, at a
preview of X-Men 2. Every so often, a PR hack from the film company
will explain to us the importance of these searches, as piracy is
affecting all of us. Of course, at the bottom of all screening passes
now, there's boilerplate about how the companies take piracy
seriously, and so should I, and my agreeing to watch the film is
subject to search, etc, etc.

In the last year or so, I've noticed the searches at most films
becoming a bit more lax - a half-hearted wave of the detector in your
general direction, a bit of a squeeze of your bag like they're
checking for freshness, and then a stern look when they realise you
have a phone. And I have to say, I've noticed pretty much zero
correlation between the heaviness of preview screening security and
the amount of time it takes for a film to show up on bittorrent. But
_you_ try telling a security guard about 10 times more bulky than
yourself that the film he's guarding is already up on the net anyway,
so all of this is pointless..

Patrick

-------------------------------------------
\\ Patrick Pittman
\\ Freelance Writer / Broadcaster
e \ patrick () concrete org au
w \ journals.concrete.org.au/patrick



On 05/11/2005, at 9:15 PM, David Farber wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
> Date: November 4, 2005 11:58:57 AM EST
> To: politech () politechbot com
> Subject: [Politech] How the MPAA killed the movie theater
> experience: a first-hand report [ip]
>
> [I'd be glad to share other experiences, or a reply from the MPAA
> should they choose to send one along. --Declan]
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: MPAA kills movie experience.
> Date: Fri, 4 Nov 2005 11:22:20 -0500 (EST)
> From: James Reid <jamie () vapour net>
> To: declan () well com
>
>
> Hi Declan,
>
> My girlfriend and I are writers here in Toronto and
> I thought I'd share this, as if you needed evidence
> that privacy abuses are out of hand, here's our
> completely insane experience with the MPAA from
> last night.
>
>
>
> OMGMPAA1984WTF?
>
>
> I wonder what kind of dystopian cyberpunk
> future we live in when you are physically
> searched before entering a movie theatre.
>
> Last night (November 3rd), my girlfriend brought me
> along to see a screening of Derailed at the Paramount
> theatre in Toronto, which she had to
> review for a magazine she works for. The lineup
> for the screening was unusually long, as I think
> they also fill seats at press screenngs with radio
> call-in winners, who in hindsight, might have
> accepted such poor treatment in exchange for
> the ostensible privilege of paying for $30 worth
> of parking and fast food at a free $13 movie.
>
> Anyway, the line was moving slowly because they were asking
> customers to raise their arms so that they could be
> electronically frisked with a metal detector, and
> women's purses were being searched by uniformed
> security guards.  Try to remember that this is
> Toronto, Canada we're talking about here, not
> New York, Tel Aviv or London.
>
> People who submitted to the search (everyone from
> what I could tell) had their cellphones taken from
> them and checked at a table set up in front of
> the theatre and they were given a ticket to reclaim
> it when they left.
>
> I was having none of this, and checked
> the back of my ticket stub to ensure that there
> was no mention of being required to submit to a
> search listed as a condition of sale. As my girlfriend
> and I made it to the front of the line, the guard
> looked at me and asked me to raise my arms for the
> search. I politely declined saying "No, thank
> you", and proceeded to the ticket taker. I could hear
> him calling "Sir! Sir!" behind me, but even though
> I slowed my pace in case he was really going to do
> something about it, as I had expected, I wasn't
> stopped.
>
> The ticket taker took my ticket and I waited for my
> girlfriend just inside the gate, as her purse was
> being subjected to a thorough going through by one
> of the guards.
>
> Since she was there for work, and her deadline was
> that night, she was not ready to risk not seeing the
> movie. Her 150 words won't have room for what
> happened next.
>
> Her phone was taken from her and put in a sealed
> plastic bag with a claim ticket, and she
> joined me where I was waiting, past the gate, and
> we walked into the theatre together.
>
> To add further insult to the debacle at the
> gate, near the exits at stage right and left
> were two uniformed security guards at each door,
> all four with video cameras scanning the crowd
> and making themselves very conspicuous.
>
> This was not just a bit of pre-show MPAA theatre,
> they stood there for the entirity of the movie, red
> LED's glowing, scanning the crowd to remind
> us that we were under close surviellence and our
> actions were being recorded.
>
> If you have sat in a chair in a dark room watching
> disturbing scenes unfold in front of you, while four
> uniformed people with video cameras stand in front
> of your, silently recording your reactions, you might
> be reminded of scenarios from a Clockwork Orange,
> Brazil, 1984, Videodrome, and strangely,
> that 90's relic: SFW.
>
> Security guards regularly use handheld video
> cameras to harrass and intimidate people,
> particularly during political rallies and protests,
> as the guards know that the cameras carry with
> them a clear implication of future retribution
> against those being recorded. The cameras are
> quite literally, a threat.
>
> ( The threat is that if you do not behave as
>   the camera holder asks, the recording of your
>   actions will be used to persecute or discrace you.)
>
> Upon leaving the theatre, my girlfriend and I
> had to stop at the security desk to claim her
> phone, which involved them searching through a
> pile of bagged cellphones for the correct one.
> We took another moment to turn the phone on
> and wait for signal in the threatre to validate
> that we in fact had the correct phone.
>
> My girlfriend had said that if she hadn't already
> agreed to her deadline, she would have made
> a point of walking out of the screening and
> giving the PR person a talking to. I did not
> confront the camera wielding guards in the
> theatre because she was my host she had a job
> to do.
>
> Only people who think they have done something
> wrong, or deserve to be searched, submit to that
> kind of authority, which is why guards get away
> with it, and the rest of us continue to be
> subjected to it and it becomes "normal".
>
> Anyway, apparently this is Alliance Atlantis'
> idea of how to treat an audience, then I for
> one can certainly live without seeing any of
> their films, and we will be skipping movies
> at the Paramount theatre. I also know that
> at least one reviewer will also be seeing
> her movies elsewhere too.
>
> I would also say that this is further evidence
> that movie studios are losing revenue because
> of the increasingly poor movie-going experience
> and general low-quality of the movies they are
> making, as after this, I can certainly undertstand
> why someone would prefer to watch a movie on their
> 14 inch screen than suffer the indignity of a
> multiplex.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> batz
>
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