We live in an age where mobile phones have converged enough technology to replace wide-range of consumer electronics – like the casual video camera. And, when you can bring your seemingly innocuous video recording mobile phone into a movie premier, the opportunity to pirate the movie and distribute it on the internet rears its ugly head. At least it did for one Australian movie pirate.
The 21-year old man, whose name has not been released, from the Sydney suburb of Prairiewood, was arrested on grounds that he uploaded a pirated copy of “The Simpsons Movie” to the internet. He faces a five-year jail sentence in exchange for the right to claim that his was the very first upload of the pirated movie – it was available within hours of the June 26th release.
Federal authorities raided this guy’s house and arrested his Aussie ass for “copyright theft.” He is awaiting his trial on October 2.
With the ever-improving video and photo capture capabilities of mobile phones, the big-screen industry is facing ever more elusive threats to their revenue. Video phones as the most powerful weapon in the movie pirate’s arsenal? Who woulda thunk it.
[Via: The Sydney Morning Herald]