New Moon Pirate Camming Farce Comes To An End

enigmax
December 11, 2009
199
mpaa,
Samantha Tumpach,
Twilight: New Moon
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When a woman who filmed her sister’s birthday party and minutes of a movie was arrested recently, it showed how far MPAA brainwashing had spread. Theater managers, knowing full well that the lady faced three years in jail, insisted on pressing charges. Today, prosecutors threw out the case against her.

On 2nd November, 22 year-old Samantha Tumpach was out with family celebrating her sister’s 29th birthday. Like many, they chose a movie theater for the happy occasion, specifically the Muvico Theater in Rosemont, United States.

Watching ‘Twilight: New Moon’ would be an experience she’d never forget.

Camera in hand, Tumpach took pictures of her family before the movie began and recorded her relatives singing “Happy Birthday”. She also turned the camera towards the big screen, snagging small portions of adverts, previews and short sections of the movie – 4 minutes in all – accompanied by her own amateur voice-over.

Then a theater ~~robot~~ worker saw what was going on, immediately recalled their MPAA programming and decided that evil had been done. Tumpach was taken to theater managers who identified her as a professional and criminal pirate. Eventually she was handed over to the police who sympathized with her situation. “They were so nice to me,” Tumpach said.

Despite this, the managers insisted on pressing charges. Tumpach spent two nights in jail, charged with criminally recording a motion picture, before being released pending a court appearance.

“We were just messing around,” she said. “Everyone is so surprised it got this far.”

Hearing of her plight, Tumpach received support from an unlikely corner – Twilight: New Moon director Chris Weitz.

“Needless to say, the case seems to me terribly unfair and I would like to do what I can to address this,” Weitz wrote in an email.

Whether or not this pressure made any difference is unclear, but Tumpach left a courtroom a free woman today, the charge against her dismissed after prosecutors decided not to pursue the case.

“She’s traumatized by this,” said her attorney Dominick Dolci. “This is the worst event of her life and she wants to put it behind her.”

Her other attorney, Howard Kavenow, added: “This was nothing more than a birthday party where photos were being taken. It’s nonsense.”

Samantha Tumpach will not now face three years in jail, no thanks to the heartless and completely idiotic theater managers who tried to ruin her life.

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keepfighting

stupid bastards
blaa

Yay common sense won for once
o.0

Well you lost one visitor of the movies I think and we gained a pirate arrrrrrrrrr
Meich

This is really starting to get out of hand now.
mikk

IDIOTS! Dont they realize she is a criminal of the worst kind. She probably steps on little kittens heads too….poor little kittys…..
Laurel L. Russwurm

Theaters have been promoting the idea of patrons having parties at the movies, then they arrest you if you take pictures? Some party.

I am very glad to see that the charges were dropped, but it is nuts that it happened at all.

And although it sounds like an all’s well that ends well it isn’t. That young woman lost her liberty for two nights.

No movie’s worth that!
mr annonoymuses

if the movie theater was so bent on stopping pirates, how did she get a camera in the theater?
politux

I wish this one had gone to trial. It would have been rough on the innocent girl but could have shined a light on the absurdity of the actions of the copyright holders.
Me

At the very least, the manager should have been banged up for a couple of nights or made to pay compensation. (preferably both)

Did they have to pay the legal fees or was Samantha out of pocket?
reacto

absolute morons the managers of the theater are…and good one #7
nnnnnn

They’ll end up putting themselves out of business. simple as abc
nope

you are calling prosecutors morons for dropping the charges?

ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

also people who watch any twilight movie deserve 3 years in jail
Goliath

Too much money + too many lawyers + sukky attitude = abuses of power

or roughly translated, “If it moves, sue it.”
lol

This kind of thing needs to have more people knowing about it rather than just a website maybe a small news paper clipping. This kind of thing needs massive publicity to show how bad the theater is and how crazy the mpaa really are. At least people would boycott that theater and see the industry for what it really is.
whoo FLung Dung

Idiots who spoil other enjoyment by singing, rattling sweet papers, whispering and generall tw@ting about with mobiles(cell phones to Yanks) should be banned from all cinemas world-wide, never mind let off and possibly awarded damages
viktor

stupid fcking jerks, so damn inhuman, it was a fcking birthday!!!!! :S
kabuki0009

I don’t know kinda stupid drink selling these days, but clearly they need to lay off.
knux

“Samantha Tumpach will not now face three years in jail,”

Hellish grammar, I’d get rid of the word now and just have it say she will not face three years in jail…
Ricardo

Sue the theater now. And ask a couple of million dollars in compensation?
Reasoned Mind Clone

She is a criminal and a thief and should be prosecuted more than the law allows! Her whole family should be immediately put to death and anyone who knows her or even read about her should also be shot, stabbed, hung, choked and then run over repeatedly until they no longer breath! Lousy pirates ruin the whole world for us fatcat hypocrites money grubbing drones!
Anonymous

Sue those fucking bastards for psychological trauma!!!!!
hello

agree with 19
h

“She’s traumatized by this,” said her attorney Dominick Dolci. “This is the worst event of her life and she wants to put it behind her.”

UGH! if only she would try to sue the movie theater now…

if i had to stay in jail for 2 days over something this stupid id be suing for compensation of my time at the very least.
CFultz

Douche bags! God that is truly sad! I’m glad they threw out her case. That’s a win for her but she should def file charges against the movie theater!

http://cfultz.com/blog
barakuda

@11
[quote]They’ll end up putting themselves out of business. simple as abc[/quote]

And then blame it on big bad pirates just like they are blaming dieing technology (DVD, physical media distribution…) disappearing on the pirates.

Get with the times or gtfo!
Truther

Theater should be named inorder to be raided.
Dave

To be fair, what idiot records video in a movie theatre DURING the movie, and doesn’t expect to get in trouble if caught.
As the article says, she caught clips of the actual movie – that’s beyond just taking pictures at a party.. that’s using your camera while the lights are out and the only thing going on IS the movie.
Empty handed

It’s with example like these that people starts to realize that we have to go against the MAFIAA.
Anonymous

Which theater did this malicious idiocy take place?
qwer

even if it seems a bit naive, what she did, the reaction to press charges afterwards is ridiculous. it is not far anymore from practices in totalitarian systems. these corporations would put u in jail for life, if they could, for something like this…

i call for boycott!
IHeard

@25 Dave

I guess you were there?
Dave

“She also turned the camera towards the big screen, snagging small portions of adverts, previews and short sections of the movie – 4 minutes in all – accompanied by her own amateur voice-over.”
Anon

What was the name of the theater company? Let us all know, I’ll personally make sure never to support them again. Perhaps an admin can comment, please?
Anon

Answered my own question: Muvico Theaters.
Please send an email to Questions@muvico.com citing your opinions and comments, I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.
djnforce9

@Anon: Hopefully either this girl sues them for a ton of money or they get shut down from an overwhelming amount of negative PR. That manager’s actions were atrocious to say the least.
omg

Where this is gonna end ?

this is pure madness …..
don’t they realize we are the one paying their luxury house and cars buying their product ?
zod

this is what happens when you let women out of the kitchen :P
Anon

Check this out too:

Their website even has a birthday party package, considering the “offender” was doing just that. Looks like these bloodsuckers really are out there for the money. Never give them another dime.

http://www.muvico.com/birthday_parties.asp

Absolutely disgusting. I hope this bad PR puts their stock down a few points.
Zacqary Adam Green

She filmed them singing Happy Birthday too? Holy crap, Warner needs to sue her for unauthorized performance of a copyrighted work.
Anon

There have been 18 other locations that were closed down. On average, they stayed open for ~10 years. Lets make these locations close up even sooner.

Boycott List
————

Florida
——-

Muvico Palm Harbor 10 – Palm Harbor, FL
Muvico Hialeah 14 – Hialeah, FL
Muvico Pompano 18 – Pompano Beach, FL
Muvico Starlight 20 – Tampa, FL
Muvico Centro Ybor 20 – Tampa, FL
Muvico BayWalk 20 (I-MAX location) – St. Petersburg, FL
Muvico Parisian 20 (I-MAX location) – West Palm Beach, FL

Illinois
——–

Muvico Rosemont 18 – Rosemont, IL

California
———-

Muvico Thousand Oaks 14 – Thousand Oaks, CA
Chris

I believe it may not be the cinema managers fault per say. Though they could have let it slide I’m sure the MPAA and the millions they spend on detection equipment and training etc. in cinemas each year will have an utter zero tollerance policy in place.

If you don’t play by the MPAA rules then your cinema will be blacklisted from major studio releases and you will be likely fired.

This is all just conjecture though.
redbaron

What a nice way to celebrate your birthday in a fucked-up world like ours. :| T
Davo

Can she sue the theater managers for malicious prosecution? The charges were clearly baseless. I want to see photos of the theater managers, and how about a local boycott: This could be just the thing to get the apathetic general public interested.
FREEdom.fighter

I’d like to preface my comment by stating that this manager obviously made the wrong decision, but it’s important to think about why he made it. A thought that has been neglected here is the possibility of his actions being not for his own benefit (as the best he would get out of the whole affair is potentially a pat on the head) but to protect his theater from the MPAA. The woman got off. There is no reasonable way to suspect otherwise. The theater, however, could have been sued somewhat more obscurely, and for “enabling illegal filming of copyrighted works”. So I’d wager that much more likely than a selfish brain-washed action, this was an act of fear and self-preservation on the part of the manager and the theater. However, that really isn’t much better, is it?
FREEdom.fighter

@41 agreed.
michan

Such things make me wanna celebrate on MPAA lawyers’ funerals.
gorehound

2 days in jail……….BS
sue if you can as i would.
Fuck You MPAA

guess what i am never buying a new hollywood film again.i will buy your films all used from now on.
CDXX

Thanks for the update on this story! Finally a happy ending!
Dan

Are they really that stupid? Geez SCR releases are already out and they know it
danny

i used to work at a movie theater and i had to check on the parts too (they get there own sound proof room with nice seats and a window to see the movie). when i seen one group of people recording it i used asked them to stop because if they didn’t they could get the cops called on them and i wouldn’t want that. (that was be for i was a pirate
Gargamel

Thats what you get for going to the theatre and supporting them.
Paul London UK

Mandelsons new weapon to “target” filesharers.

http://order-order.com/2009/12/11/friday-caption-contest-do-you-feel-lucky-brown-edition/
djnforce9

@FREEdom.fighter: How would the MPAA even find out? They don’t need to know about this. Unless you’re suggesting the MPAA has spies in every single theatre during all hours of operating every day of the week just ready to report any incidents like this that were ignored.
djnforce9

@danny: What you did is what this manager should have done well.

To be honest, I’m willing to bet he gets a huge sum of money for every “pirate” caught and so he jumped on this opportunity to make a quick buck (not caring who he hurt in the process).

I used to work at a theatre and the rate was a $1000 bonus for every cammer reported. The same probably goes for managers.

Either way, I hope this manager loses his job or gets such bad publicity, he quits and never goes into the business again if he’s going to be that selfish.
anon2

so did her lawyers even suggest that she at least get her costs out of the idiots that had her arrested? why should she be put in the position of being falsely accused of pirating a movie, be put in jail, get a police record and have to pay for legal representation because of these morons. the fact that charges were dropped is irrelevant. the theater managers should be forced to pay her bills plus compensation. wonder where she’ll go for the birthday celebration next year? i suspect anywhere except the movies!!
Man-o-man

Yeah, I just downloaded the 4 minute clip, Finally some Twilight to watch! Thanks Samantha for pirating that for me!
Neo styiling reasonmind

I will agree with http://torrentfreak.com/new-moon-pirate-camming-farce-comes-to-an-end-091211/#comment-624433

it´s not good that innocent people are not responsible their faulty act and free world who need´s it, really we need more cntrol.
diarRIAA

And still the MPAA doesn’t understand why many people are turned off and choose to boycott movies, and are more than happy to download and share media. The corporations blame us evil thieves and pirates for destroying their industry.

Of course…with that being said…they’ve broken profit records.
Rob

Oh sure, the MPAA might not press charges, but they were singing Happy Birthday!

Watch out for the RIAA :(
blah

I’m going to sue those assholes for making my movies PG-13.

How the hell am i going to watch SAW without gore?

Instead of catching 4 minutes film, make their films a little better so it’s worth my money. Or maybe piracy is the new age form of telling them “Your movies suck. Period”
Kapcha

Another proof that MPAA is evil
Anonymous

The happy birthday song is copyrighted. Everyone in the video singing that broke the law.
Old Timer

I can confirm that theatres get “bonuses” if cam pirates are “convicted”…”Convicted” not caught. So the bonus that everyone was expecting takes years (if ever) to pay out.

When I was in the business, we caught one of the projectionist filming the movie and a local video store was renting them the day after the movie release…kind of stupid but that has nothing to do with this case…they were clearly in it for the profit which by anyone’s standards is against the law.
Old Timer

I should also add, who the hell wants a CAM…the quality is nothing like a DVD, people just need patience, all movies come out in DVD sooner then later and just rent them or watch them on a streaming service…your not going to die if you don’t see it….
William

Next step: sue for copyright infringement for taking a photo in a cinema lobby and catching part of a poster for a movie.

What thiefs!

Hell, sue the TV companies for reproducing movies, and sending out a copy to everybody watching that channel!!!
FREEdom.fighter

@djnforce9: I didn’t really mean to imply the MPAA is spying on us all. The issue is this, if the manager was afraid that it would cause a problem, then that could inspire his action. I’m not saying they’re everywhere, and I’m certainly not agreeing with their views, or saying that this manager did the right thing. Obviously he made the wrong decision. But, I did want to raise the possibility that it was not brain-washing or programming, but fear that drove him to make his bad decision, however paranoid that fear might have been. My point, really, was that beyond propaganda/information about “piracy” the MPAA is also causing fear in the minds of the individuals they depend on, theater managers/owners. It’s just another example of the industry attacking the individuals it is supposed to be serving. They aren’t just going after pirates, or people talking about piracy (see the article on usenet), they’re going after the owners of theaters. And theaters made record sales in 2009. It’s fear-mongering, and it’s a tactic that is proving effective for them. I wanted to bring attention to that.
cando22

arresting people for alleged copyright violations are way down the list of problems we are facing in this country… waging an immoral and illegal war against Iraq and Afghanistan are at the top of that particular list… this may seem off issue to most of you but if you are not an American please don’t assume you understand our legal system.. we have more prisons per capita than any country in the world.. our Federal prison system alone is full of people that did no more than smoke marijuana as part of a lifestyle choice..so while it may seem absolutely rediculous to jail someone for such a small thing as alleged copyright violations.. consider the men and women facing 10-20 years in prison because they lived in a state with zero tolerance laws..
dood

i saw this on cnn awhile back, they called this rediculious and kind of woke the issue in main stream media, that was kind of excting for me
Name and Shame

Here is the twitter link for Muvico Theaters.

http://twitter.com/MuvicoTheaters

Tell them what you think of their suck a$$ attitude!
Brandon

Regal theater managers get a reward for every filmer that gets caught. At one time it was a 10k reward if a manager found some one.
OJ

I’ve been following this story since it appeared on isohunt’s news feed.

I wasn’t at the theater when this happened but I have a pretty good idea how this event played out.

An underpaid member of the theater staff scanned the dimly lit theater with a practiced eye. Light from the film intermittently flashed on the mostly female crowd riveted on what’s his hair Pattinson.

During one of those brief flashes he thought he glimpsed someone aiming a camera at the screen. His whole body tensed as he strained to peer up at the spot to make sure.

Just then, the screen flashed and he clearly saw a girl camming the movie! He almost wet himself in his excitement as he took off in a dead run as fast as his chicken-fleshed legs could carry him.

He burst into his manager’s office wide-eyed and after a breathless explanation led his manager up back to the theater and up the stairs where he pointed to the girl holding a camera. They both walked quickly back down the stairs and called the police. The rest is history. Speaking of history…

The managers who pressed charges deserve a curby. You know what that is if you’ve seen the movie American History X. :) Good day.
Goas

http://consumerist.com/2009/12/update-accidental-new-moon-taping-felony-charges-dropped.html

Charges dropped.
josh

Absolutely fucking pathetic.
Like we all need another reason NOT to go to the cinemas.
Yo

No case here.
Camming merely a few minutes of a movie is not copyright infringement since a few minutes is not a substantial part of the work.
There are several previous rulings regarding this in US.
Yo

Also,
this sounds like false imprisonment to me, so the girl has a good chance of getting REALLY rich.
shiny turd

so now its ok to cam 4 mins! wot next it is ok to cam 6 mins? this is a dangerous precedent and the woman should have been stamped on as hard as the law allows, 20 years in jail and $200 Million fine

if we go soft on these pirates our economy will fail and our children will die. i am happy at least she got a criminal record and will never work again
Quasit

“and short sections of the movie – 4 minutes in all – accompanied by her own amateur voice-over.”

I guess she wasn’t alone in the cinema with her family?
Can you really have sympathy for someone disturbing other moviegoers, even though it’s a crap movie?
reasoned shill

all movie goers should get an automatic 3 days in state pen to give them a taste of real justice

then they would think twice about taking the piss out of the American movir industry

what you dirty pirates dont understand is that the movie house manager was only doing his duty and the law is always right because it is god’s law
Bob

Know thy enemies, fellow pirates. It’s not only the MPAA Hollywood executives we should be fighting, but the greedy, vindictive, charges $5.50 for 15oz of soda movie theater managers. They are the thugs, pushers, and foot soldiers of the movie mafia.
snarg

Except that her DNA and fingerprints will now be on file for…ever
post moderated

post moderated
Yatti420

I’d be suing the local theatre..
Yatti420

81 is spam and needs to be removed..
Yatti420

reasoned shill

all movie goers should get an automatic 3 days in state pen to give them a taste of real justice
—
Yea sure.. This will help speed up the death of the movie industry i am all for it..
—

then they would think twice about taking the piss out of the American movir industry
—
Real commercial pirates don’t give 2 craps..
—
what you dirty pirates dont understand is that the movie house manager was only doing his duty and the law is always right because it is god’s law
—
Sureee.. he really had to call the cops and get her charged.. This is why if I was her id sue the movie theatre.. She’d probably win aswell..
—
Corn

FOR THIS everyone should copy just one of their DVD’s and give the copy to a friend. And any time you read about an absurdity regarding copyright, do it again. Just a little punishment for their stupidity.
Tomas

2 nights in gaol is a small price to pay for the compensation she will get when she takes them to court for trauma, stress and whatever other symptoms she pretends to have.

Of course I would absolutely encourage that. The theatre deserve it for being so stupid in the first place.
tonyj

She should have been persecuted, I mean prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Death by lethal injection!
Mooneye

Jeez,

I guess it would be woe unto anyone who mistakenly posted the public phone number or (email) address of that theater, huh? Perhaps a torrent of righteous indignation, er, support for that young woman might update the programming of the workforce there.
some guy

I guess they’ll set up security checkpoints at movie theater entrances to check for cameras and outside food.
J

If anyone knows the name and address of the name and address of the theater manager responsible for this incident, I think you should post it publicly – for optimal (legal) shaming and harassment =)
J

- of the name and address x 1 -_-
pirated

and yet its totally available on the net…

They are amazingly inept and over-zealous at the same time.
Anonymous

stupid dicks they arent a commericial pirate so leave them alone. just alienated another potential customer with your bs.
BlueBeard

WOW so if someone is caught the penalty is 3 years in jail for filming a stupid movie?! How is this law fair?! We are talking about protecting the profits of a private institution here, namely the MPAA. Obviously these laws have been bought and paid for. How incredibly unfair and just plain evil. Filming a movie shouldn’t be a criminal offense! Maybe civil.
Kath

@enigmax: Should’ve gone that extra mile and “named and shamed” the theater managers responsible.
Anonymous

reminds me of something i saw when i was at the titanic artifact exhibition at the OSC a bunch of security dicks were harrasing a guy cause they thought he had a camera, *this was a brightly lit room so the artifacts are obviously not going to be hurt by a camera flash* no excuse for it really just greed from a company that has seized control of the debris field with a court order. of course its okay when the press comes…
Pingback: A.C.T.A. is still BAD « Stop Usage Based Billing
rb

yea, don’t you think watching that movie was traumatizing enough for her? Good thing the theater didn’t ruin her life further.
Anonymous

the Muvico Theater in Rosemont should torched to the ground as retaliation.
HMS

Wow… I truly did wonder what would inspire a theater owner to press charges on something like this. Monetary interest seems the most likely factor. Way to go MPAA & Theater Co. I can not think of any PR incident that could be worse for your industry than this. Worse than RIAA suing 12 yr old filesharers. These idiots are not ‘protecting’ their industry, they are killing themselves slowly and painfully.
Name and Shame

Its not just the theater managers stupidity, this is from the article in the local paper…

“Rosemont Police spokesman Sgt. Keith Kania… said the theater pressed charges against Tumpach, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office approved the charge of criminal use of a motion picture exhibition facility.

Muvico Rosemont 18 Theater
9701 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Rosemont, IL 60018
847.447.1030
trustnoone

bastards!!
decora

i just wanted to point out that the lawmakers responsible for passing this law got money from the Illinois Film PAC which is funded by Disney, Sony, Fox, the MPAA, etc.

They include $17,000 to Blagojevich, who approved the law, and a couple more thousand in total to the state senators who sponsored the bill in the first place.
!!! News Flash !!!

RIAA Files Case Against Woman Who Sings Song

The RIAA(Racketeers Industry Association of America) files a copyright infringement case against Samantha Tumpach for publicly performing and recording the song ‘Happy Birthday’ without prior written permission or license from the copyright holders. Law firm ‘Bitch, Whine and Prosecute’ representing the RIAA said in a statement that “she is a criminal and a thief and should pay for her terroristic activities against the recording industry. It is thieves like her that are destroying our way of life!” $6 Billion in damages are being sought from her.
diarRIAA

103 Dec 12, 2009 at 07:12 by !!! News Flash !!!

You forgot to add that she is also a threat to children and families, and that God and Jesus wants her to burn in hell forever.
Ivanovic

This is Blasphemy! Idiots… now they truly lost a movie-goer . Who can be so thick as the theater manager ? A troll.
matey

@69 Dec 12, 2009 at 01:49 by Name and Shame

Here is the twitter link for Muvico Theaters.

http://twitter.com/ MuvicoTheaters

Tell them what you think of their suck a$$ attitude!

How do we send them direct messages if we are not friends with them? From what I understand about twitter, you can only send direct messages to people that follow you so perhapse for this to work, movicoTheatres would have to be following the sender on twitter to send a message to them so that they would read it is that correct? thx.
vw

The mpaa thing on 60 minutes was trying to connect piracy with file sharing which are different things

but they still try and connect them.

its the millions of copys that are sold that affect their stupid human rights violating industry not sending a song so a “friend B” can know the same band as “friend A”

its already disgusting this fuckign world is all about oil and stupid greed wars and economy manipulation and gambling , but now we gotta put up with these idiots violating human rights and privacy and freedom.
!!! News Flash !!!

RIAA Files Case Against Woman Who Sings Song : Update

Story update:
Law firm ‘Bitch, Whine and Prosecute’ representing the RIAA in the case against Samantha Tumpach has included the folowing charges as well…
1) Crimes against humanity.
2) Crimes against children families and their dogs/cats and other pets to be named.
3) Being a threat to world peace.
4) The b_tch just pissed us off!

Former movie pirate William Fox of 20th Century Fox said in a statement from his grave… “Burn the witch!”
!!! News Flash !!!

RIAA Files Case Against Woman Who Sings Song : Continuing Story

From the AP News wire.(Anti-Pirate News Wire)…

Bitch Mainwol, current overlord of the RIAA, released a statement today stateing…”I find it appalling that our fellow cartel members MPAA(Movie Piracy Association of America) would allow this international terrorist and baby seal beating thief to get away from them! We have every intention of ruining her life and all who know her or ever saw an image of her as we own those copyrights as well!

Industry shills .\\neo.na.zi|sSGuard and Disillusioned Mind had no viable comments.
Rhapsun

What a dumb ass theater manager and the owners too! Finally common sense from the police and the district attorney. That would have made a good trial. Recording of a birthday celebration and 4 freakn’ minutes of the movie recorded. A professional video thief? A jury would have laughed at that.
Anonymous

Refusing to prosecute is not the same as saying the law is wrong.

Is a discretionary power that law enforcement uses to dodge potential PR nightmares.

The law is still there and if they have gone to court they probably would have won.

That is the real “danger”. We are all at the mercy of others without tools to defend ourselves.

If she had not gain notoriety people would just prosecute her and throw here ass in jail for a minor infraction.

Now, if you think that is bad in the U.S. wait until ACTA is put in place then people in Europe, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Canada can just cry.
TheScribe56

For those of you not local to the Chicago area, this is even worse than it sounds. The COPS tried to talk the theater mangers out of pressing charges – the poor woman had spend the whole weekend in the Lockup. She said the police were sympathetic and treated her well, but I hope that theater gets boycotted until the managers are all fired.
Silly

silly buggers are insane aren’t they??!! Pirating? Completely idiotic, moronic and heartless behaviour…beware Big Brother is watching you, copyrighting your dreams at night.
\\.neo.styles|sSG

This was a bad move. If you see some just sitting there by themselves, videotaping the entire movie movie from start to finish, then sure.. But she was probably waving the camera around in her excitement. How much value would that have to a pirate?
you sound like

@Dec 12, 2009 at 08:46 by Anonymous

You sound suspiciously like certain trolls on here!
Megan

Obviously once the video on her camera had been viewed and the managers had seen that no harm was intended, they should not have pressed charges. However, she should have known better then to have a camera out and filming the screen after the movie had started, not to mention the fact that she shouldn’t have been talking during the movie. The managers clearly seriously overreacted, but she sounds like a pretty stupid and obnoxious patron IMHO. Seems to me that everyone in this situation was lacking common sense.
!!! News Flash !!!

RIAA Files Case Against Woman Who Sings Song : The Continuing Saga

From the AP News wire(Anti-Pirate News wire)…

Samantha Tumpach responded later today to the lawsuit brought against her from the RIAA with this folowing statement…

…………………./´¯/)
………………..,/¯../
………………./…./
…………./´¯/’…’/´¯¯`·¸
………./’/…/…./……./¨¯\
……..(‘(…´…´…. ¯~/’…’)
………\……………..’…../
……….”…\………. _.·´
…………\…………..(
…………..\………….\…

End quote.
SL

Brilliant work by the manager, hes now lost dozens, if not hundreds of customers for the theatre.
John Down

!!! Warning !!!

If you go to the cinema to watch a movie or celebrate your birthday, you could face up to 3 years in jail. Avoid at all costs!!! You’ve been warned!!!
Mike

^Agreed. I can’t believe all the people on here supporting her. She was extremely obnoxious & direspectful to all the other people at the theater who were spending their hard-earned $ not to hear someone else singing, takin pictures, & narrating her own movie while the actual movie was going. She’s old enough to have
a college degree but that’s the ignorant behavior of someone still in elementary school.

People like this, shining their bright phones to answer a call or text during a movie are why I don’t go to movies anymore. At the last one I went to, idiot teenagers were giggling & talking about the drugs that they had just taken; critiquing the movie out loud; & yelling at the characters on screen, trying to tell them what to do.

When the previews start, sit down, STFU, turn your cell phone off, & keep your ugly feet off the back of my seat or anywhere they block someone’s vision.
John Down

#115 & #119

I wonder how fair it would feel to you if you had to spend 2 night in jail for annoying a bunch of people with a happy birthday song.

I bet you 2 haven’t annoyed anyone in your entire lives.
TPM

Fools! Don’t they know you can’t sing “Happy Birthday” out in the open without paying royalties?!?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday_to_You#Copyright_Status

And quoting: “This includes use in film, television, radio, anywhere open to the public, or even among a group where a substantial number of those in attendance are not family or friend to whoever is performing the song.”

P.S. This just shows how screwed-up current copyright is, if you can’t sing Happy Birthday when the neighbors might be listening.
liquidmonkey

and out comes reason #173 why not to support MPAA in ANY WAY what-so-ever!!!

that theater manager is a total fuckstick, period!

but i thought it was very cool that the director of the movie came forward to offer a helping hand. for that reason alone i’m gonna go out and actually PAY to watch this movie even though it contradicts my first sentence.
AnarchyNow

A clear abuse of the system by corporate morons, she should sue the theater back for moral prejudice ah ah ah what a fucking shitty worse than nazi dictatorship excuse of a (nameless) country
matey

Lets not forget that raid where they were having bbq and the swat team raided them because they didn’t have music royalties to play the radio. Its on tf somewhere if anyone wants to look it up.
Misgnomer

What was the theater called, Im gonna make a roadtrip and set off multiple stink bombs…>.> <.<
Ivan

I agree that the whole case is a full load of bullshit and nonsense but everyone knows it’s prohibited to bring in and use any type of recording equipment in the cinema, they even announce that such activites are illegal in the actual cinema.
Abdul – Damascus

WTF ….. fuck 2 MPAA
Cujo

she’s pissed!

http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Samantha+Tumpach&init=quick#/profile.php?id=100000046804464&ref=search&sid=675908283.590301852..1
Lawyer

She should be sueing them now.
Whatever

Some just comment without checking facts or thinking logical.

If anyone is holding a birthday party in a cinema they would probably have hired the whole room (i would find it too expensive but other people may have a different view). So there would be NO “other people” there to ANNOY during the movie. Assuming someone usually has a birthday party in private not in public.

I don’t know if the party was private or not so i can’t tell wether she is bothering people. However following the link in #72 and reading one particular comment there my “logical” assumption “seems” correct.

So 1st think/check before making accusations the same way the theater MAFIAA does.
Damian

Its I wonder the RIAA doesn’t sue her for the royalties for singing happy birthday.
…

What the fuck is happening to the world? Seriously?
Torrent-Eye

Download free content at http://www.torrent-eye.co.uk
ffybfh

I just sent her an email with suggestions about persueing the issue. This is far from over!
edzhy

That “robot” is paid to do this IMHO :) it’s unhuman
GuyFawkes

MPAA BURN IN HELL

I WISH THE WORST TO YOUR CHILDRENS
T.H.E. S.W.A.R.M.

while they we’re busy wasting thier time with her, we we’re grabbin a copy ;)
Prahlad

I don’t know what’s so special in that movie :P
tosser

There is a special place in Hell for people who talk or fuck about during movies – This woman *sang* Happy Birthday and probably encouraged to kids to do it as well.

Great news she got off the piracy charge… but I can’t wait to see what eternal excitements Old Harry has lined up for her Downstairs. :)
Prison Raped

That would guarantee you being raped in prison if you were a guy sentenced to 3 years for filming this movie.
Borderliner

People are missing a vital point – this all was not because she was ignoring the movie company’s copyright but because she operated a camera in a cinema. A little known “criminal filming” law is what got her into trouble (and which is why this was a felony in the first place, not a civil matter). That the manager flagged her is exactly the right thing to do, after all he/she saw a crime in progress.
However – once it was clear what happened the management should have stopped. She made a mistake, she missed the because of that, give her some slack. The whole thing is basically the same as when you spend a grand in a grocery shop and accidentally forget to pay for a candybar. Sure, it’s not nice and you should get slapped for it, but considering there was no intention to it and you did give out quite a few cash in the establishment the management should be a little more understanding. The problem with zero-tolerance policies are that they ignore the fact that people aren’t perfect.
Michael

Hey people why dont you try http://www.ViewHD.net
your mamma

Here’s an idea for a xmas project:

Prerequisites:
1x camera mobile etc
3x stunguns (c’mon theyre not that hard to get)
4x good pals

1) Walk into a cinema. Start camming and wait for the drones to detect and try to grab you.

2) Stun the f.üc-k out of these miserable little popcorn peddeling motherhumpers and teach them a lesson about trauma and loss of dignity.

3) leave and get drunk
WHY???

Complete and utter IDOTS.

ALL morons with no common sense need to be locked up from the world.
Jon

She should sue the pants off the theater, and the stupid a** organization that allows law suites against individuals that SUPPORT THEIR INSTITUTIONS. Jesusfinchristwtf?!
Cyko_01

she should get compensation for the two nights she spent in jail
Anonymous

good ol’american freedom

I’m so glad we are free
bobo the bear

Is she fat?

I think she was thrown in the clink for being fat and annoying
Pingback: Samantha muss nicht wegen Fotos im Kino in den Knast « 11k2
Anon

Samantha is cute <3

Fuck Muvico, she needs to file suit against them.
P_O_O_L

Moreover, do you reckon Warner Chappell will sue/request payment for them having sung and taped a public performance of “Happy Birthday”
your name here

Great job traumatizing yet another paying customer!
Ranger

Ah yes the criminal organization attempting to jail more innocent people.

If she would of pirated the movie, she would be in less trouble and spent a lot less.

Hopefully we can destroy these criminals and jail them where they belong..

FACT is, its wrong NOT to pirate. Do your part, justice will prevail.

Can we get the address of this theatre? That manager has something coming..
Kurt

I say any fool who pays good money to get in line with the rest of the herd to see the latest line of the Emperor’s new clothes needs a wake up call. Not that I didn’t get in such a line many times myself, but if only I had such a traumatic theater experience: like maybe a hot butter explosion, or a stampede of mutant ninja dwarfs, oh wait… I’m getting reality and movies confused again. See, that’s what I mean! If only I had been traumatized at the right time I might not have that problem — as apparently the Muvico managers do. Actually, I don’t see why she doesn’t sue, or maybe I do, it’s probably too much trouble. But I’ll never look upon Muvico the same way again, next time I line up with the herd.
Raul

Is she going to get revenge? I hope she runs over the manager.
anonymous

I agree with @41, et al. You’re misdirecting the anger to the managers, who are likely compelled to do this contractually. What really sucks is that they’re being asked to play the cops for the mpaa.
xakai

for shame…
Bloke

@ 137 Dec 12, 2009 at 15:17 by GuyFawkes

MPAA BURN IN HELL

I WISH THE WORST TO YOUR CHILDRENS

—-

Don’t wish bad for the children, they are innocent in this (what if you were 3 yrs old and mpaa kids?) You could have wished that their kids grow up and see that their par. are scam artist and don’t like it so they are against their own parents after they learn the truth.
G.Fawkes III

Here is the theater

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Muvico+Theater+in+Rosemont,+US&ie=UTF8&hq=Muvico+Theater&hnear=Rosemont,+IL&z=15&iwloc=A

Also notice the comments. Seems the folks commenting over at google maps are busy too.

Somebody find the name of the Manager and we will teach that little prick a lesson he won’t forget anytime soon.
M-RES

@18 Knux

No, it’s actually the correct grammar. This is the English language after all – your short-form version still works, but is itself bad grammar if correct syntax is applied.
mole

Found this over at yelp. Briliant

What’s the difference between a five-star and a one-star review? Legally attacking a patron. The first business I’ve actually blacklisted this year. Sent the following letter to Muvico, expecting that they won’t care or have a clue even when handed to them on a silver platter.

–

Greetings -

I am aghast and appalled by the attached news clipping. While I do not live near a Muvico, I am nevertheless a frequent patron, visiting both Muvico Rosemont 18 and Muvico Baywalk 20 with family and friends. We visit Chicago at least once or twice a month, and St. Pete’s Beach annually, and Muvico has been – until now – the preferred choice of cinema in these locations. I have attached a few random ticket stubs from recent movies to validate our past patronage.

I refuse to do further business with Muvico until you make this situation right.

I recognize that there is a modest amount of camcorder piracy that occurs. However, AT&T Labs, which conducted the last major public study on movie piracy in 2003, concluded that 77 percent of pirated movies actually originate from industry insiders and advance screener copies provided to movie reviewers. Camcorders allegedly capture relatively low quality video and even worse audio. You are unlikely to capture a bootlegger in your cinemas, but I recognize that bootlegging is theft, and I am fine with efforts to stop theft. The federal anti-camcorder law was passed due to assurances from the motion picture industry that bootlegging was a serious problem.

However, we are not talking about that. Does Muvico really think that a few minutes of “New Moon” is a salable asset on the black market? Do you really think Samantha Tumpach came to Rosemont 18, recorded four minutes, and said, “Aha! Now I’ll get rich by selling bootleg DVD’s of my four minutes!” Because if you don’t believe that she intended to do this, she was clearly not bootlegging, and therefore not in violation of the obvious intent of the law.

You have attacked a patron. There was no need to insist on pressing charges; you landed a patron in jail and she has undoubtedly suffered great anguish over this issue. This is unacceptable behaviour for any company.

I demand and insist that you make this situation right. At a bare minimum, decency demands that:

1) You will fire the manager(s) at Muvico Rosemont 18 responsible for this travesty, for severe lack of judgment.
2) You will engage in a training program for the management of other Muvico properties, and teach them that they’ve been given a great power to deal with those who steal your movies. With great power comes great responsibility; you are expected to use the law your industry insisted was needed to combat piracy TO COMBAT ACTUAL PIRACY, not to make felons out of partygoers.
3) You will insist that no charges be filed in this case and you will cause the young lady’s record to be expunged.
4) You will reimburse this young lady for all time spent in custody or in jail at your CEO’s rate of pay.
5) You will issue a formal apology to this young lady.

Failure to write back and confirm that you have complied with each of these points will result in our never patronizing your cinemas again. I fully expect that you have no decency, and that as a result, I’ll never visit a Muvico again, but at least now you know why you lost me, my family, and every friend I can tell. Hope your “anti-piracy victory” was worth it.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/muvico-rosemont-18-rosemont
csulok

that’s what you get for watching twilight, she should have gotten the 3 years, just for going to see that movie! :D
LxrKan

@ #8

I totally agree with you!

if this had made its way to court i think some good would of come out of it… for us… arrrrgghhh ;D

kisses xXx http://youtube.com/LxrKan
MD3

She should sue back for LIBEL and HARASSMENT!

BASTARDS!
RIAAtarded

It gets tiresome. Someone needs to file abuse of process complaints against. Very least send them the bill for taken up the courts time and a judgement for pain and suffering to the real victim here which isn’t Hollywood.

I’d like to see courts impose judgement on their failures. Maybe if they had repercussion to their actions they would take the time to do proper investigations.
nlkjs

this is jus so effin damn pathetic, screw theater managers n screw MPAA, i’d say everyone continue file sharing all the way =]!
Silly

Yes, perhaps it is not the best behaviour to flash mobile phones at a cinema hall.. i agree, but JAIL???!! That’s stretching it a bit far!
HMS

Copied third hand from the Google maps comments on the theater in question. I take no responsibilty for accuracy, but this seems legit and interesting:

MUVICOS OFFICIAL RESPONSE TO CAMCORDING INCIDENT AT MUVICO ROSEMONT 18 The unauthorized video recording of a motion picture while it is being exhibited in a movie theater is illegal under federal law and under the laws of more than forty states, including the State of Illinois . According to a study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association of America, illegal film piracy costs the movie industry billions of dollars each year, and illegal camcording in movie theaters is the source of over 90% of all illegally copied movies in their initial release form. In order to combat the increasing theft of copyrighted films, the motion picture industry has encouraged theater owners to adopt a “zero-tolerance” policy prohibiting the video or audio recording of any portion of a movie. Specifically, theater managers are instructed to alert law enforcement authorities whenever they suspect illegal activity. Theater managers have neither the expertise nor the authority to decide whether a crime has been committed. Law enforcement professionals determine what laws may have been broken and what enforcement action should be taken. It is then up to prosecutorial discretion to determine the seriousness of any charges that might be leveled. In our continuing effort to educate our guests about the illegality of film piracy, Muvico prominently places a number of posters and signs within its theaters alerting moviegoers of its “zero-tolerance” policy with respect to the camcording of films in its auditorium.

This zero tolerance bs will likely cost them consumers. I guess they think it’s worth the bad press. MPAA brainwashing indeed.
Anonymous

Yahoo! Demonoid is back bitches!
Masamune12003

FFS, name the theatre manager who did this, blackball the theatre and any other who does something this stupid.
If someone gets thrown out and arrested for actually pirating a film then fair enough, it’s a risk you take.
But for idiocy like this the manager in question, and person who reported deserve to pay big time.
maddmoh

Respect to the director
Anonymous

Read this article on sister site Freakbits…
http://freakbits.com/muvico-unrepentant-over-new-moon-camming-arrest-1213

The management stands by their act of stupidity! Sick bastards!
ThatGuyWhoPutItInYourMomsButt

Rosemont is a fucking corporate cesspit anyway. Whot a shitty burb.
Anon

“..and illegal camcording in movie theaters is the source of over 90% of all illegally copied movies in their initial release form..”

No, it isn’t 90%. 75% alone comes from people working in the industry, and very few people watch cams anymore.
BASiQ

fuxxing a$$holes. Get a life you heartless b@stards!
MD3

So they did not even apologize? Then I repeat, this woman has to SUE BACK this damn MUVICO ROSEMONT 18 administration for pain and suffering. She was arrested in front of an audience like a criminal and confined for 2 days because of lack of good sense from both staff AND Police. In my opinion, SHE DESERVES SOME NICE BUCKS for all this trouble.
fEiRcE.

That manager should have to pay very dearly.

If your listening out there.. know that if you tried to do that to me.. I would make your life so miserable you would be wishing YOU had spent 3 years in safe jail.

When scum like you meets people like me.. bad bad things happen.
Ninja

Oh come on, what will I do with a 4 minute video from the actual movie? Just get a grip MAFIAA..

I hope she sues them for damages. A ruined birthday for some idiocy from failed industry. Disgusting.

On the other hand, another epic fail for our amusement. Hope Sam is ok now, stay strong girl!
Anonymous

Serves her right for watching and paying for a piece of crappy movie called Twilight.
Fail

Everyone who sees twilight should be put to death. She got off light.
The Blue One

@143

what is every single patron to attend a screening at that cinema was to go in with a cam, and every single one of them put their cam on…

i could imagine caps with webcams mounted, and recording to ipods…

a whole cinema fulla geeky lookin types with cams on caps…..

hehehehehe

which one they gonna arrest?
the whole freakin lot?

yeah! Right!
FuckMPAA

thats not fair at all!!! poor girl :(
Mad Max

People should call the Muvico Theaters 1-847-447-1040 and let them know what you think of their actions! E-Mail is appreciated also Questions@muvico.com
#185

haha, will never ever go to a cinema again!
because i would not want to be arrested for no reason :-o
Mr T

Do things like this not just encourage you rip of films? Nobody is going to sympathise with an industry that takes this stance.
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Mase

MPAA programming at its finest. Forget the guys who go in there and hide cameras, lets hit the poor mom’s who decide to take pictures of their families having fun in the theater.. That’ll stop them pesky pirates
abolish copyright law

the only way to stop the horrible injustices
well

They arrrrrrrr retards.
Potato Head for president!

Its funny how they do nothing about the real criminals but instead wasting their time doing this stupid acts of retardness
fvsf

Kill the MPAA! Kill capitalism!
Pingback: The Great Geek Manual » Geek Media Round-Up: December 15, 2009
SADHEVNEO

stupid assholes!!
all they know is money , money n money!!
idiotic basterds!
anon

good lesson for all the people out there, STOP using the cinema, STOP buying videos, UNTIL they change the laws and first of all THEIR BEHAVIOUR, they sure do need reeducation on how to be civil and moral
Marco Polo

DEFINITELY take them to court, charge ANYTHING and everything you can against them. Glad to see you were freed, the charges were ridiculous. Go after them. I know she wants to put it behind her, but seriously, payback’s a bitch. Tak ‘em down, no holds barred style.
Sam

Wow, the manager wasn’t thinking it through.

Even if things had gone the way he wanted them to, no one’s going to go to that theater any more.
Steve

Guys, you obviously don’t understand the whole point of what he did. You’re not supposed to film it, how much would she have filmed if she wasn’t caught? When the lights are dimmed, why would you be filming? There’s no reason to, you wouldn’t be able to see family members.

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