Inconvenient Measures to Combat 'Indiana Jones' Pirates

by Eric Kohn May 28th 2008 // 9:32PM

Filed under: Action, New Releases, Paramount, RumorMonger, Celebrities and Controversy, Fandom, Distribution, Exhibition, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Trailers and Clips

The nomadic DVD peddlers in Chinatown and other urban areas seem virtually unstoppable, but that hasn't kept Hollywood studios from launching various attempts to prevent movie piracy. Boing Boing reports on the rumor that at least one theater has been silencing the soundtrack in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull throughout the film in order to mess with potential bootleggers trying to record the thing. If true, it's got to be one of the most brain dead attempts at security since the rise of quart-sized bags. When you really get down to it, most two-bit criminals with camcorders in their laps don''t really care if the quality of the movie they're recording suffers, since the resulting product will already feature lo-fi video, the overlapping sounds of laughter and other audience reactions, and silhouetted cameos from patrons venturing to the concession stands or taking bathroom breaks. With all that, the intermittent exclusion of music doesn't sound like a major concern for the bad guys.

Studio anti-piracy measures are notoriously ill-conceived. Premieres and all-media screenings often force critics and even the filmmakers themselves to undergo intense evaluations before they're allowed to enter the theaters, while films open to the public, where pirates are more likely to show up, don't take any precautions. Granted, multiplexes wouldn't help their business if attending them felt like entering an airport terminal, but that doesn't mean there isn't a better way to prevent the crimes from taking place. Anyone care to offer some ideas?

[Via Movie City News]

13 Comments

Tags: boing boing, BoingBoing, bootleg, bootlegger, bootlegging, criminal, criminal intent, CriminalIntent, criminals, harrison ford, HarrisonFord, illegal, illegal downloads, IllegalDownloads, indiana jones, indiana jones 4, indiana jones and th..., IndianaJones, IndianaJones4, IndianaJonesAndTh..., indy, indy2008, movie city news, MovieCityNews, multiplex, piracy, piracysolutions, quart sized bags, QuartSizedBags, security, security breach, security camera, SecurityBreach, SecurityCamera, steven spielberg, StevenSpielberg

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

5-28-2008 @ 9:50PM

totoro said...

Seriously? Anyone who is willing to watch those crappy pirate cam downloads is someone who wouldn't buy a ticket in the first place. The theatres and studios are really overestimating their losses, if they think the average movie fan is going to choose a shaky cam over the real movie. Its just a bunch of bored pirate collectors.

Now, once the DVD version is released....that is a different issue :p

5-29-2008 @ 9:36AM

Kevin said...

Thank you! What continues to be overlooked is that the vast majority of people would prefer to see a movie in the theater and will pay for it when deserving. I remember about 5 years ago or so I was watching the manager for Outkast being interviewed on CNN about Napster and free sharing and how everyone in the industry was so outraged over how much revenue they were losing. He then pointed out that Outkasts recent record sold like 8 million copies and he commented that its pretty obvious that if you put out a GOOD PRODUCT then people have no issues paying for it. The people buying and downloading pirated movies are the people who don't really care enough about a movie to pay for it in the first place, so the distributors loses aren't that bad. Hell, Indy just made what, 311 mill. in its first weekend? Doesn't sound like people are running away from theaters to me.

5-28-2008 @ 10:21PM

MCW said...

Technology is advancing. Is there no way to have the soundtrack to a movie emit a high-pitched screeching noise that can only be heard when recorded on video/cell phone cameras? You watch it when you get home, and your ears begin to bleed. I'm sure someone has this tech. and just isn't using it.

5-29-2008 @ 12:52PM

Hagamaba said...

There is, there's also on the market now a invisible ink that can be painted on walls/fabrics that only shows up when photographed digitally.

so all you have to really do is use the sound thing, and paint a few lines over existing screens and viola, in theater piracy solved.

Then they can focus in on the legit pirates.

8-28-2008 @ 1:55AM

rusl said...

actually there is no chance that the sound idea would ever work. The human ear has a much higher range of sound detection than any camera microphone ever will be manufactured to (range and depth) So only the patrons would hear the noise - the camera wouldn't pick it up.

Also, anti-piracy measures are evil. Pirates are doing everyone a favour except the most greedy. Even those ignorant enough to not understand common good (people "against" piracy but not benefiting from the way directly) benefit from a fertile culture. If creativity is a field - copyright is a fence. Sterile.

5-28-2008 @ 10:57PM

Robert said...

While I was watching Indiana Jones on opening day at a Regal Cinemas the sound went off 7 minutes. They said it was due to a power failure but maybe it wasn't. I got free movie passes but still I missed 7 minutes of the movie.

5-29-2008 @ 1:01AM

Ryd said...

There is a cheap fail-safe system already designed to prevent camcorder piracy, however the studios have all refused to take it up.
The system involves a set of high power IR lights placed behind the screen that flash randomly throughout the movie. They are invisible to the human eye, but are picked up by the camera and cause the picture to be marred by huge sections getting washed out constantly.
The system has no negative effect on paying customers and is cheap to install (aprox $30 per screen).
Since it's patenting and marketing to studios, it has met with nothing but disinterest. It's as if the studios WANT piracy.

5-29-2008 @ 1:18AM

Gary said...

Most of the cam rip-offs available on the net nowadays are 'Telesync". I.e. recorded from a camera mounted in the projection booth with a direct link into the audio. Quite often the picture and sound are sourced from 2 different recordings, the audio link provided for the hard of hearing is a common source for the soundtrack.

You would find that most piracy is sourced from people within the industry. Watch what happens around Oscar time when the internet is flooded with DVD quality screeners that could only have come from Academy members. I suggest they get their own house in order before ruining our enjoyment of a film.

And yes of course I am sure that 99% of people who watch a pirated movie would not have paid to see it anyway, so this loss of revenue that Hollywood love to talk about is pure fantasy.

When they stop paying actors upwards of $10 million dollars per movie I will start to believe Hollywood's bleating about how poor they are. They are selling a product that most of the time is pretty crap to be honest, remakes, sequels etc... Some of these movies are not even worth the entrance fee. They should think about making a product that gives value for money before complaining about stealing.

If they want to be treated like other industries in this respect then they should be forced to give refunds when people are dissatisfied with their product. How many other products on the market do you have to pay up front for and have no recourse if you feel you never got what you paid for?

They have had it good for far too long and it will take someone smart in Hollywood who will stop with the lawyers and threats and actually do something about the product. Is there somebody smart enough in Hollywood?

5-29-2008 @ 12:06PM

mwillmott said...

Sounds like the infra red projection might be an effective technique, as long as the radiation isn't harmful to people. But really, I doubt this kind of piracy would diminish without social change. Hollywood, and corporate institutions in general, would need to reestablish trust with the populace and disavow practices that have contributed to a reputation for being greedy money sucking machines with little concern for public interest.

And on the other hand we, the people at large, need to willfully renounce the grubby, disenfranchised attitudes that sanction piracy and are the flip side of corporate corruption. We would need to assert, by ourselves, that there is some value to being a good citizen, and to do our part to contribute to a wholesome, respectful culture. Because society is comprised of its individuals. If we sag, the culture sags. And we do. And it does.

5-29-2008 @ 3:18PM

Eugene Novikov said...

Eric, they're doing this not to interfere with the recording but as a primitive watermarking technique so they can tell what theater something was recorded in.

5-29-2008 @ 3:24PM

Eric Kohn said...

Be that as it may, it's still extremely unfair to paying members of the audience who have no interest in pirating the film.

5-29-2008 @ 3:57PM

Eugene Novikov said...

I agree, and in fact when I read your post I thought you weren't outraged enough. I was just trying to clarify what the point of the measure was.

5-29-2008 @ 9:01PM

Moviemaniack1993 said...

Well I for one would like to see this happen (even though it never will). I see just about EVERY movie in theaters, so if I want to go home and download it, so be it. I paid my $10.00 to see it. I am just too impatient to wait 4-5 months for the DVD and Blu-ray release and so I download the best quality pirate available. Now for what I would LOVE to see the movie company's do. Release the DVD, Blu-ray and theatrical version of the film all at the same time. This way, I could still enjoy the film in theaters, and if I liked it, head on over to Wal Mart after I see it and pick it up. You may be losing some revenue, but not if you do not allow the title t be rented. The only option is for people to pay to see it in theaters, or to buy it. I'm sure some I would just buy outright, but for the most part, summer blockbusters I am there every week opening night.