PirateEye’s Hidden Cameras Aim To Stamp Out Camcording in Theaters

April 26, 2012 · Posted in M&E Daily, Today's M&E Connections 

Camcorder piracy may generally be on the decline, but a studio-backed technology company says it has a way to put an end to the practice in movie theaters for good.

The company, PirateEye, presented its solution at the exhibition industry’s CinemaCon convention Wednesday (via The Wrap). Installed in theaters, PirateEye’s own clandestine cameras monitor moviegoers for suspect activity.

Studios and theaters already employ PirateEye in more than 80 percent of press screenings and industry premieres, according to the company.

The marketing of PirateEye at CinemaCon coincided with MPAA chairman Chris Dodd remarking in his convention address that “the number of illegal video camcords of movies in theaters is down 50 percent since 2007” (via IndieWire). The reported reduction led website TorrentFreak to crack that camcorder piracy is a “dying art.”

But the MPAA maintains that the illegal practice, even at reduced levels, poses significant threats to film profits worldwide. “One illicit recording of a first-run motion picture spread through the Internet and on street corners,” the organization stated in November 2011, “can destroy the producer’s ability to recoup the investment made in its production.”

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