Teen Faces 17 Years For Taping Movie

Curtis Salisbury, 19, used a camcorder to make copies of recent releases "The Perfect Man" and "Bewitched" and then distributed them through illicit computer networks that specialize in piracy, the Justice Department said.

A law that took effect in April prohibits such behavior.

Salisbury also downloaded several movies and software programs from the computer network, the Justice Department said.

Salisbury, who faces up to 17 years in prison, could not be reached for comment.

Entertainment-industry insiders and tech-savvy hackers use "warez" networks, as they're commonly known, to distribute movies, music and software for free, often before they're released to the public.

Camcorder piracy accounts for over 90 percent of movies that turn up on the Internet while they're still in theaters, said the head of a movie-industry trade group.

Source:
Yahoo! News

Seventeen Years for Recording a Movie?

Well that's a Quite a Big Punishment for this 19-Year Old Young Man, that has just started his Twenties - I guess he will again see the movie in a Theatre when he will be 36 years old.

I find that a bit hard on him - considering that the Movie Industry makes Gazillions of Dollars anyway.

Maybe they just wanted to make a POINT with this guy - and issue everbody else a Warning.

What's Your Opinion?

Next time tell him to go kill someone, he would get 5 yrs if that..

Up to 17 years for a non violent crime is obscene. However, people are aware that this is a crime and should go unpunished. It may be that a possibility of up to 1 year imprisonment for such a crime and there happen to be 17 counts recordable.

Salisbury also downloaded several movies and software programs from the computer network, the Justice Department said.

Law enforcement officials say most participants in warez networks are generally not motivated by profit. In this instance, Salisbury sought payment for the movies he uploaded, the Justice Department said.

However, to impose such a penalty to the individual is sickening. They are obviously making an example of this person for which his life and the life of his family will be permanently effected because he taped a movie and shared it.

Amazing how " the authorities " will punish a teenager for file sharing, but
set up multi-billion dollar industries with third world counties who's entire
IT infratructure is based on pirated software .

I guess they should throw us all in jail for taping our favorite shows and movies and recording our favorite songs on the radio too.

Just another example of how corporations own those who make the laws.

Originally posted by FallenFromTheTree
Just another example of how corporations own those who make the laws.

Bingo. Maybe it's time to start boycotting the film industry? Cut into their profits. Hit them where it hurts.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by FallenFromTheTree
Just another example of how corporations own those who make the laws.

Bingo. Maybe it's time to start boycotting the film industry? Cut into their profits. Hit them where it hurts.

I agree.

But the Majority of the People Boycott the Film Industry by not going to the Movie Theatre - but downloading it and watching it home instead. Sooner this wil be a Serious crime, as this Event has shown us.

Then again Hollywood movies aren't that great anyway, I guess we could live withou them in the first place.

Originally posted by intrepid

Originally posted by FallenFromTheTree
Just another example of how corporations own those who make the laws.

Bingo. Maybe it's time to start boycotting the film industry? Cut into their profits. Hit them where it hurts.

Yes and by boycotting DON'T DOWNLOAD EITHER! They really got to feel the pinch. Read instead. Watch Indie Flicks etc. Oh Yeah don't watch TV either as the MPAA's member corps also own the majority of content on there too. Watch the BBC and other Public Broadcasting stuff, PBS and the like.

[edit on 6-8-2005 by sardion2000]

when you pirate movies a rich jewish kid has to settle for a benz instead of a ferrari.

Originally posted by Lysergic
when you pirate movies a rich jewish kid has to settle for a benz instead of a ferrari.

ROFL!!!

:lol

Such Sacrifices they Make - sometimes I really can't sleep when I think about how they Suffer!

17 years, really stiff penalty..
I wonder what he will actually get.

It Is thievery, but so is 9 bucks for a crappy movie..and 6 bucks for popcorn.

I posted in another thread that I walked out of a movie a couple of weeks ago..It was THAT BAD..I got a refund, and went to a different movie, which was much better.

But when "Wedding Crashers" is a number one movie, it's a sad state of affairs..
I mostly go for Indy films, good stories with great dialog that actually makes you think.

most movies these days are really poor stories to follow or tacky remakes of an old classic using celebs to boost audiences. To be honest I have not been to the cinema for a long time as there has been nothing worth watching and spend more time watching the Indie flicks for free off the net. They tend to be a lot more entertaining than the usual Overpaid Hollywood superstar with a big gun, femme fatal, an eastern european villain and some tedious predictable storyline.

I highly recommend Atom Films.. very entertaining.

Did anyone else read about Sony giving refunds because they purposely had someone pose as a fake critic on a movie poster?

I think it was A Knight's Tale and The Animal and a few others that you can get your money back for.

www.hollywood.com...

"Manning supposedly called Heath Ledger 'this year's hottest new star' for his lead role in A Knight's Tale, and described Hollow Man as 'one hell of a scary ride.' "

They are allowed to get away with this, but some teen gets locked away for distributing rubbish films?

I seen those both. They were ok to watch once.

err wait never seen a knights tale
was thinking of Black Knight.

Originally posted by Klepto

I highly recommend Atom Films.. very entertaining.

Awesome link man thanks! Here is another indie web flick some of you may already know, FOAMY!

www.illwillpress.com...

well if we are going to plug our fav lil movie sites....


Here is my fav FAT PIE!

That is very harsh, this guy seems to be an example to frighten anyone else who copies films.
I am with all of you who have had it with Hollywood flicks, cant remember the last time i saw one. And like a lot of you have mentioned, better films are readily available, such as Independant or Foreign films.

To keep the site links going, here is another site with some free stuff on it, mostly old stuff, but lots of recently made Indie films too.
www.movieflix.com...

That is a bit out of control, we have a justice system that penalizes murder and rape less than it does stealing a movie?!

Definately we ought to take a broader look at our justice system.

Whenever money of big bussines is involved, penalties are way harsher then when a murder or violent crime is commited.

Worst of it all is, the music and movie industries want these harsh laws because they claim that piracy is loosing them bussines and costing them billions. Yet movie after movie, they are raking in more and more money then ever before.

Every year several movies come out that have record braking sales. These same movies are the ones that get spread on the net before they are even released.

And as always it comes to this Quote:

Money Talks - Bull**** Walks.

He must have made a ton of money to get that much time. They do not say how much he made doing it. They are clearly making a point. Either way that is way to harsh, especially for a 19 yr. old kid.