Following the announcement of a fresh anti-piracy drive and new, aggressive legislation, a man has been caught using a camcorder to record the latest Transformers movie and is now facing 6 months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
American Theater
The MPAA claims that New York is a pirate movie haven and with a claimed 43% of all camcorded movies originating from the city, it was just a question of time before Major Bloombergs and the MPAAs anti-piracy campaign - coupled with new legislation - claimed its first scalp.
According to reports, police descended on the American Theater on East Avenue in Parkchester, after warning theater workers in advance that they were about to conduct a sting to arrest a known movie cammer at a sneak preview of the new movie Transformers.
After waiting until the end of the screening on Monday night, Kalidou Diallo, 48, was surrounded by seven plain clothes officers, arrested and subsequently charged with the new anti-piracy misdemeanor. He had been allegedly filming or camming the movie, utilizing a hidden camera and digital recorder.
The manager of the American Theater, Justin Hill, said that the authorities knew that his theater was the source of the cams. The movie companies
knew it was coming from our theater, he said. We were taking heat for it because we werent catching anyone.
Under the previous law, getting caught meant up to 15 days in jail and $250 fine. The new measures signed in May 1, makes camming a misdemeanor offense, which means that Diallo is facing a possible 6 months in jail, accompanied by a $5,000 fine.
