Pirates – accidental and arrested

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Reel Blog   


Die Hard was living free on the internet – unthinkingly posted on an independent film upload site – according to Variety’s Anne Thompson. Iklipz discovered the posting, removed it and alerted the film’s distributor.

New York gave its municipal anti-camcording law its first workout Monday night at a screening of Transformers when NYPD caught an alleged in-theater camcorder pirate in a sting operation. According to the New York Daily News,

About 30 minutes before the 8p.m. showing, theater employees received a call from the NYPD saying they were plotting a sting at the theater, a known haven for bootleggers, police said.

“The movie companies … knew it was coming from our theater,” said manager Justin Hill, 23. “We were taking heat for it because we weren’t catching anyone.”

Seven plainclothes cops corralled Diallo – who has a history of illegally recording films – moments after the screening ended, police said.

The AP notes police ‘arrested Diallo, 48, after an officer seated behind him in the theater saw him raise his right arm after the film began, court papers said. During a search shortly after the movie ended, police found a video recorder “strapped underneath his right arm via a body harness,” and a video player and remote control in his jacket pockets, the papers added.’

Movie theaters across the country have recently received new anti-camcording posters – shipped, ironically enough, with prints of Transformers.