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Police Charge Man in Movie Camming Crackdown

A man from Quebec has become one of the first to be charged under Canada’s new anti-camcording legislation after being caught trying to record the movie ‘Dan in Real Life’. The man – who intended to upload the movie to the internet – faces up to 2 years in jail.

Back in June, Canada adopted legislation which would see greater punishments for people caught camcording movies in theaters. The amendment to Bill C-59 stated in part that any person caught recording a movie in a theater without permission would be guilty of an indictable offense – and liable to be imprisoned for up to two years.

According to reports, October 2007 saw the arrest of a 23 year old man, allegedly caught trying to record or ‘cam’ the new movie, ‘Dan in Real Life‘. He was also in possession of equipment to directly upload the movie to the internet and was likely to have been apprehended by police and theater staff wearing night vision goggles.

The man from Quebec is among the first to be charged under the new legislation which, according to Slyck.com, was rushed through in record time after intense lobbying by the MPAA in the United States.

If convicted, the man faces up to two years in jail. However, should his actions be considered part of a commercial operation, the term jumps to five years and could include forfeiture of assets.

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  • jesse

    that’s gay.

    im gonna get night vision goggles and attacked movie employees wearing night vision goggles… or just shine a laser in the goggles that would look like the sun to them.

  • qm2003

    A) What an idiot, didn’t he get the news ?

    B) This was a PRO or at least a “wannabe PRO”, not some teen recording a movie sequece with hit mobile phone for a sibling.

    C) Cams suck anyway.

  • b

    2 years in jail is bullshit. He didn’t hurt anybody, and this is NOT that serious of a crime.

  • kioken

    [quote]He was also in possession of equipment to directly upload the movie to the internet[/quote]

    Oh no, let’s charge him for owning a router

  • fidoda

    It’s funny when you know in Québec a drunk driver only gets 2 years minus one day.

  • Blade

    [quote comment="214314"][quote]He was also in possession of equipment to directly upload the movie to the internet[/quote]

    Oh no, let’s charge him for owning a router[/quote]

    lol i wouldnt be suprized

  • Anonymous

    again.. break their legs and arms off, less crime then showing your experiences to friends..

  • Lephron

    This is completely ridiculous! Big corporation buying laws again – the only harm done is *possibly* to the pocket of the MPAA. How can it warrant jail time?

  • Anonymous

    all you need to do is get the permission of your best friend the theatre manager and no one can get in trouble. any theatre managers out there who wanna let me cam a movie(preferrably in scarborough at 401 & morningside).

  • lowdirt

    feel sorry for the guy. what makes it worse is that cams really do suck. just wait for dvd! infinitely better quality.

  • DJ Velveteen

    I think someone was just looking for an easy excuse to bust out the night vision goggles.

    Seriously, the time and money spent prosecuting this shit is what’s criminal. Are we not yet making enough millions at the box office?

  • serrebi

    really? 2 years for camming a movie? I’m sorry, but fine the idiot, jailtime is just counterproductive, not to mention wasting jailspace.

  • mike

    First offence? The guy will get a $50 fine, if anything. If convicted it is UP to 2 years. It is not an automatic sentence like in the US. Most likely, the Crown Attorney will drop the charges. Our courts are so overcrowded that it will take two years before going to trial. There are more dangerous criminals out there that need dealing with and shit like this is quietly dropped.

  • Justice is now bought and sold-ask OJ Simpson & Corporate America

    I am sorry the guy was caught. It really is not that big deal. He is clearly not guilty of a criminal offense, Geez, no one was hurt! Again, as said Above, the only thing maybe hurt would be the corporate cash flow. BUT, due to the MPAA’s constant lobbying efforts, and HUGE payoffs to America’s spineless, bought off Senators, it is now a CRIMINAL offense to even REMOTELY attack a corporations most precious in the world (And than ain’t you or me friend) $ MONEY. This is truly insane. I feel sorry for the guy, he is only 23. I can see a WHITE collar crime here.

  • cowboy

    Okay so seriously, night vision goggles? hahaha

  • Greg(USA)

    m3 1s m0v13 c0mp4n33 4nd m3 w4nt G33 P33!!!!!!!!!!11!@

    Sorry, had to say that. :)

    It makes PERFECT sense that the courts are busying themself with things like this instead of solving some REAL problems or trying to catch oh… I don’t know… serial killers? How about rapists? CHild abusers even? But no, movies need their gee pee too badly.

  • Greg(USA)

    IT’S SHINY TOO!

  • brett

    lol wow that is funny
    what does it mean
    “He was also in possession of equipment to directly upload the movie to the internet”
    from the movie theater? wow, if so, thats pretty cool

  • coz

    The fact that the Bill C-59, only talks about recording movies and/or the soundtracks to movies. Why only movies??? I realize the MPAA only gives a shit about cinematographic works but I would have thought the Senate would have cared other kinds of work as well.

    Anyway the bill says if caught up to two years or a summary offense (fine). If caught trying to make money off of what you recorded it could be up to 5 years of imprisonment. Plus in both cases any equipment found will or can be disposed off.

    Not cool.

  • ColdFission

    I don’t mind this type of news. All can agree cams suck, so why bother even considering them? I am actually glad to see something is done with camming, less crap being uploaded on the net.

    However, the punishment for the camming with the new legislation is not good. 2 years, in my view, it was long for doing it with no intention of getting money off of it. And 5 years for getting money off it, that can be debated, but I also think that is too long.

    *puts on flame suit to protect self from idiots*

  • anonymous

    wtf thats dumb…like others have said, the courts, especially here in canada are over crowded since they spend time on crimes like this…what about the murderers that are on our streets?

  • Unibroue

    it cost 80 000$ each year for 1 prisoner… he is not a danger for anyone, this is bullshit

    some idiots killed a 3yr old girl doing street racing there is like 2weeks, and im sure they wont go in jail

  • What is theft?

    Corporations today own the government, and now get the governement to use their resources to derail anything that might cause a loss of corporate profit, no matter how insignificant. Its shameful that this “crime” is punished as seriously as drunk driving which will cause loss of life. Of course, the only thing corporations care about is loss of profit.

    So how does this change? Since governments are basically owned by big business, what motive is there to stop this applying outrageous punitive damages on insignificant crimes?

    It used to be (back in the old days)… that copyright infringement only allowed for COMPENSATORY damages, in that the copyright holder could bring CIVIL action and sue for loss of income. If it could be proven that it lead to the loss of 4 copies of a DVD, the copyright holder could sue for the cost of those DVDs. This makes perfect sense.

    However, now they have placed horrendous, unimaginable PUNITIVE damages to copyright infringement. I believe they can now charge 500,000 dollars per movie. This should be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” and not allowed. But since the governement, judicial and legislative in the US is owned by corporations, all laws and enforcement today are to protect the profits of the corporations.

  • TotalWimp

    This is wrong. There is no way on earth this HURT someone. Intention to do wrong should in no way be illegal.

  • Anonymous

    gay

  • TD123

    [quote]
    He was also in possession of equipment to directly upload the movie to the internet.
    [/quote]

    From the movie theatre? They found him with a router and possibly a laptop, and that’s enough to make an arrest?

    Yes its illegal to have a cam in theatres, and i can see why he was arrested. But the punishment doesn’t fit the crime. 2 years in jail and there was no proof he was going to sell the disc in the first place. Like post number 22 says, its around 80k to “take care” of a prisoner … that’s 160k gone to waste, seeing that what he’s doing isn’t even harming anyone (but the big name companies who could give a shit what happened to this guy)

  • oneplusone

    Corporations use OUR (tax)money against us. They should really be paying their own dime and using old gumshoes like the olden days. And the mob.

  • Ty

    He could have at been camming a good movie.

  • bubbakush

    this is bullshit!

  • Kochon

    dang… I live in Quebec!

  • satan

    pretty funny, got caught tooo hahaha

  • Thingy

    You can just imagine the scene of how this amendment to Bill C-59 went.

    Government official: “Next on the list is amendment to Bill C-59, the increase in illegally filming copyrighted works. A amendment that will waste time and money in our court system.”

    Rest of the Government: “Amendment to Bill C-59 denied”

    MPAA official walks in and drops big bags of cash in the middle of the room

    Canadian Government: “WOW! US dollars! Movies bad! Amendment to Bill C-59 approved. Now lets get our theater staff some night vision goggles!”

  • Thingy

    No offence to Canadians btw, just the government

  • kill all pigs

    Hey, is there any doubt left that the Canadian gov’t is bought and paid-for by the corporations? 2 years for what should be a civil matter, it’s fucking disgusting.

    The politicians that voted for this law should get their heads kicked in. Seriously. Threatening freedom with insane laws like this justifies some violent action in defense of the people of this nation.

    BTW, anyone that is disgusted by this bullshit needs to NOT ever spend money on movies! These corporations are in power because braindead assholes support them.

  • JoeRodge

    Man I can only imagine how awkward it was when he was caught.

  • Joestyle

    It’s just sad, that federals invest so much energy in tracking down and punishing people who put a little democracy into entertainment. I really don’t give a F*** about majors losing a few percent of their money that way. They’ve made enough the last couple of decades and have simplay gone greedy.

    Power to the digital generation (thats us.)!!!

    Check out this cool clip: http://youtube.com/watch?v=Sr51Gxd59kA

  • Yatti

    I thought the RCMP and henceforth regional\provincial police etc would have something better to do (diddnt they say so themselves?!).

    2 Years In Jail!? What A JOKE!
    FACK THE MPAA|RIAA Scum! Look what we have now?! Throttled\Capped Connections\Indictable for copying shit?!

    Whats next? Identical laws to the US in relation to copyright and such?! Or are we already there?

  • Unibroue

    there is NO MEDIA commenting this new in Québec,
    LCN (québec version of cnn, same crap every 30min) TQS, RDI, radio-canada….

    and when you try to get media attention, you receive email from them saying they dont want to talk about it, because it is encouraging the violation of copyright

  • spycopy

    This guy aint goin to prison, it will never go to trial, he will plead out to some bullshit misdemenor pay 100 fine and go fuck off somewhere.

  • Unibroue
  • casey

    lol yeah should have been camming a good movie at least. anyways this just goes to show WHY WE PAY SO DAMN MUCH IN TAXES!!!!!

  • deckstream

    i’d kill myself if i was sent to jail for 2 years for the movie “Dan in Real Life.”

  • Roflcer of the Lawl

    DAMN IF I WORK AT THE MOVIES I CAN GET NIGHT VISION GOGGLES THAT IS THIE SHIT!!

  • James

    Dunno about anyone else, but I wouldn’t want to go to the movies now knowing people are out ther spying with night vision goggles. Screw that, i’ll wait for the DVD release.

  • Tweeter

    Next time go go to the movies, bring yourself a flash !!! Have fun blinding the sucker…

  • Anonymous

    This whole law thing is a lol,

    First off they have too many laws on the books.
    Then they don’t even enforce the important ones. They get lost in all the garbage laws like this one.
    This should be a civil matter. It’s ridiculous to waste resources on this kind of minor event… you know what two years in jail costs. Tell the CorpoRatz to climb back in the it hole… They stink up the world…!!!!

  • CorpoRatz STiNK..!!!

    This whole law thing is a lol,

    First off they have too many laws on the books.
    Then they don’t even enforce the important ones. They get lost in all the garbage laws like this one.
    This should be a civil matter. It’s ridiculous to waste resources on this kind of minor event… you know what two years in jail costs. Tell the CorpoRatz to climb back in the it hole… They stink up the world…!!!!

  • freelance pirate

    just start burning down the frackin theaters, send em a message that the law dont fracking control us.

  • satan

    ha haa

  • lol

    Good. I’m from B.C and I can say. Thank god it was Quebec lol.

    Mercy boocoo seevooplay!

  • Solidus

    “Up to 2 years” which I don’t think hes going to get, maybe he will serve a month in jail…thats about it. Besides just wait till a dvd comes out. Simple!

  • mondo

    i can’t believe people go to bigger movie theaters to record movies. i honestly assumed they came from backwoods towns during a midnight viewing for staff/friends. if the movie theater has money to get night vision goggles i would feel like a jackass paying money to see a movie there.

  • JinDaku

    You know it’s funny that the law is such a waste to arrest harmless people who records a movie in the theater just because it’s illegal than arresting the REAL criminals out there who are killing innocent people. Sad world we live in, huh?

  • limmey@gmail.com

    they should of just given him a copy of the movie…..gonna end up on the net sooner or later…..

    http://galacticcentral.org/

  • What is theft?

    Incredible that movie theaters have night vision goggles. Who bought those for law enforcement? Were they given these by the police? Does a theater owner (corporation) buy these?

    I find the whole movie going experience unenjoyable anyway. They made the seats more comfortable, but when attending a popular movie, you are still packed in like sardines, can’t get a decent seat unless you stand in line forever. It always seems that wherever I sit, a retired 7 foot basketball player sits right in front of me blocking the screen.

    Here in the US, you can’t bring in any snacks. I can walk into any other store in the mall with a Starbucks coffee, but you can’t do it in the movie theater, you must dump it and buy their crummy stuff.

    If you want popcorn and a softdrink, its $9 which amounts to about a nickle’s worth of foodstuff.

    Then there are all the people who keep talking during the whole movie as if they are sitting at home on their couch. Some even are talking on the cell phones.

    The unpleasant movie theater experience doesn’t help draw people to the theaters.

  • Anonymous

    it’s good to know that picking your nose in a movie theater won’t go unnoticed since they’re keeping their eyes on you with night vision goggles.. what the f***? is this supposed to encourage ppl to go to the theatres knowing they’re watching you there?

  • Damon

    it wont be long before your searched before and asked to sign a contract to agree not to cam there wank films. (Note to all cammers out there, if you feel your being watched by some Psy-Ops like agent (night goggles, lulz), then wop out a flash bang or a firework and make a quick exit, they will be blind for weeks.)

  • Comcast

    And they lose more than 160K if everyone just download the movie and watch it instead of paying for a ticket to watch it in the theatre.

  • Comcast

    [quote comment="214793"]just start burning down the frackin theaters, send em a message that the law dont fracking control us.[/quote]

    Yeah, and end up in prison for arson right? Dumbass.

  • b

    I don’t understand why there aren’t more calls to boycott the movie industry over stuff like this.

    If someone went to jail for leaking a music album, we would all be pissed at the RIAA.

    How can you go to the theater and enjoy a movie, knowing this is what you’re supporting?

  • reallyyy

    I know someone who got two years for armed robbery… And spent only half in prison. Up to two years for camming a shitty movie. I don’t think so. It’s not going to happen.

  • redundant

    [quote comment="214896"]You know it’s funny that the law is such a waste to arrest harmless people who records a movie in the theater just because it’s illegal than arresting the REAL criminals out there who are killing innocent people. Sad world we live in, huh?[/quote]

    I gotta say this is the most overused and retarted statement when it comes to shit like this (mpaa, riaa piracy etc..) When you think about it the theaters are just protecting their business. Who would go to a theater and see a movie when they could just download it before (i avoid cams like the plauge though) They loose money when someone uploads a movie while its in the theaters. I was goin to go see american gangster until i found a dvd screener online. Why go to the theater now..?

    “law is such a waste to arrest harmless people who records a movie in the theater just because it’s illegal than arresting the REAL criminals out”

    Who said the law isn’t aresting the real criminals? You could use that argument for anything. Officer why would you give me a ticket me for speeding when you could be arresting the rapists?

  • francine fishpaw

    Boycott MPAA.

  • Ceri

    Heck, even in the backwater places like Tamworth, Australia it’s up there in big visible letters now “no camcorders or mobile phones allowed”. Now really, who the hell would want to download a cam done off a phone? *shudders* Talk about cruddy quality, one jitter of your hand and it’d go to pieces, plus the motion capture is really lousy despite many of them being 1.3MP or higher now.

    Still as the police say the concept of real criminals is a fallacy, that being said they’re usually referring to people who have been arrested not wearing seatbelts, drink driving, or speeding and complaining about why the cops aren’t out there catching “real” criminals.

    160K… I doubt he’d cost the producers anywhere near that much with a cam, if he didn’t actually get them some sales once it’s out on DVD. If the leak of the Star Wars scripts couldn’t make people stay away from those POSs, I down a cam of another crap movie will.

  • Anon

    Why comply with the theater peeps?
    Dude should have just sucker punched em and bolted out the emergency exit.
    OR cause a scene start yelling RAPE or HELP ME HE HAS A KNIFE.
    You know like yell FIRE in the theater.
    A little distraction goes a LONG way. .

    Also if they are gonna use night vision then make a high intensity Infrared LED array and power it up,It will supersaturate the night vision causing them to be starring @ the sun basically.easily made for under $25.Its the same concept as using those little boxes over department store doors thats utilize K-band radar to open the door for you.If you use some and install them in strategic places of your car you cant get an accurate radar lock by the man.They will get a random reading.Getting pulled over for doing 690 MPH in a 45 was priceless.

    The point being is THERE IS ALWAYS something to COUNTER their Actions!!!
    FUCK Corporations & Government.
    Public Dissent @ this point is the LAST Democracy/Freedom we have!

    Resist Resist Resist!
    By All Costs,by all means,even under pain of death!!
    If incarcerated MAKE THEM PAY AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE,like get all that medical care you CANT afford otherwise!!!
    The future of our children is @ stake!!!!
    Liberty or Death!!!!!

  • chrismd

    What the fuck. Why doesnt EFF, Amnesty or who else start speeding up internationbal professional responce to cases like this. Regulatory authorities and assossiations have the power but also we people. Planning to do something in old Europe. Chris, Europe.

  • Necromanson

    Courts seem to hand out jail time like it’s not TWO FUCKING YEARS OF YOUR LIFE. How do you justify taking two years of somebody’s life for recording a movie?

    Total bullshit if you ask me, and it’s definitely NOT justice.

  • Lawofbob

    Can we please call this guy an idiot and not talk as though this guy was doing nothing wrong? 2yr is the maximum this will guy will get and posters who seem to know what they are talking about seem to be suggesting that this guy will only get $100 fine.
    All this guy would have given us a crappy quality of Dan in real life and we would be bitching to him about it.
    I think we need to recognise that sometimes piracy is illegal and frankly what this guy does and what I do, there is something different and I don’t want to be associated with an idiot like this.

  • Anonymous

    fukin burn down a theater or sumthin…
    the guys who got caught doesn’t deserve 2 yrs…at least not for that crap movie!
    fuk this bullshit

  • Anonymous

    At least in prison they don’t spy on you with night-vision goggles.

  • Anonymous

    Wow, I read that as “Police Charge Man in Movie Cramming Crack Down”.

    But seriously, though – that’s a bit excessive.

  • Help!!!

    This guy has nothing to worry about, he won’t do any jail time.

  • marcl

    [quote comment="214324"]It’s funny when you know in Québec a drunk driver only gets 2 years minus one day.[/quote]

  • marcl

    [quote comment="214324"]It’s funny when you know in Québec a drunk driver only gets 2 years minus one day.[/quote]
    Pff ! Try to find a judge who can fix that !!!
    In most case, the drunk driver loose his driver licence for 2 years and sometime receive maybe 3 month of jail…
    In Quebec we didn’t have no more money for the jail… so the criminal is confine to stay in his home…
    don’t worry for the guy with his supposed infraction.

  • JvInternet

    [quote comment="214598"]there is NO MEDIA commenting this new in Québec,
    LCN (québec version of cnn, same crap every 30min) TQS, RDI, radio-canada….

    and when you try to get media attention, you receive email from them saying they dont want to talk about it, because it is encouraging the violation of copyright[/quote]

    Well TQS talk about it… they found the story.

    http://www.tqs.ca/blogues/jeanmichelvanasse/2007/11/une-premiere-arrestation.php

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  • FIFI

    redundant you are a god damn fucking idiot

  • John

    wish we could blame the taliban or binladen for this stuff……..

    founds terrorism…… mpaa would catch one of them in a heartbeat to get some money………
    100,000 fine.

    Hate the mpaa and riaa….. bounch of clowns.

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  • Anonymous

    How much money was he supposed to get for camming?? A lot!! Money that does not belong to him, which if I remember correctly is hmmm…. oh yeah…STEALING!! or is STEALING not a crime anymore?? Everyone has excuses now adays.

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  • IY Film productions

    honestly guys the film industys makes more then enough during therater sales and move rental sales like realy to make everyone buy the film aswell you pay 8$ now to watch this film on progection scrren at your local threater the amounth monie they make is absolutly rediculas, most people who film movies dont make alot money off it there are some who put it to dvd and sell befour it actully hits the streets butby time they start making any money someone has already stuck it on the net so bootlegging is next to pointles

    but i mean realy you spend 8$ for a ticket then say it good so you spend 3-5$ renting it with freinds you just spent round 15$ with tax, the movie gong cost another 20-40 depending so realy you already spent 15 on it personaly i think you should be aloud to get it for free, nobody whoes making 15 million dollars off movies has the right to complain that a few people are downloading it for personal viewing plessure

  • IY Film productions

    shit i wrote alot , lol i say leave the botoleggers alone they not hurting anyone if you realy want inprisson someone grab the stingy fuckers who making us pay up to 50 bucks for one movie

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