Mobiles Ban For Cinemas

[jts-khorat]

Not even at the embassy?

Why are people so worried here about handing their phone in? You can't use it in the cinema and get it back 5 minutes after you come out.

I believe its the last comment that have people worried....." get it back 5 minutes after you come out"

They probably have a notice somewhere pinned up that states a) that they are not responsible for your personal items or is limited to 500 baht

This is indeed stated policy here on Phuket in Central. No responsibility will be taken for lost or damaged property.

[oxyvue]

It seems like some cinemas in Bangkok have already started to implement some measures: this is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I was going to watch a movie at the Esplanade Cineplex, and I noticed that, at the cinema entrance, the staff was asking some movie goers to leave their mobile phone at the entrance. Each phone they were taking was tagged and then placed in some shelves at the entrance. They were giving another tag with the same number to the phone owners for them to collect back the phone after the movie. When I entered the cinema, they asked me to leave my phone. I replied that I would only be able to do so if they would give me 25,000 bahts in cash in exchange. I explained them that this was a valuable phone (the PDA phone I was carrying that day was worth that price indeed!), and that I would return them the money in exchange for the phone after the movie. They smiled at me and told me it was impossible. Some kind of cinema manager then came to me and explained that this was a new policy and that this measure was to prevent the making of any illegal film copy by cinema patrons. I explained him in return that I had no intention to "film" the movie with my phone and that, according to my own policy, I would only give my phone to the cinema staff in exchange for a security cash deposit equivalent to the phone value. Of course, he disagreed with me. I then told him that, in that case, I would ask for a full refund of my cinema tickets and I would watch the movie in another theatre. He finally smiled at me and let me, my friend, and our mobile phones get in without any further discussion. 

Moreover, I had seen a similar procedure taking place last year at the premiere screening of "Muay Thai" at the SF World cinema: in the same way, they collected all mobile phones at the cinema entrance and gave them back to their owners at the exit.

Interesting ...

In responding in such an unpredictable way to their request that you leave your cell phone with them at the cinema entrance, you also showed them how absurd their procedure was...

[Plus]

They don't need to record a movie on a mobile phone, they need only [Thai] soundtrack. You can download a movie in a couple of hours, add your new soundtrack, re-encode in DVD format and save as ISO file on a hard drive. When a customer requests it at the stall, you can burn it in the back room in five minutes. That's how business at places like Panthip works.

Many CAM releases on torrents are very similar - video is sourced from one master recording made in Spain, Russia or Germany or whatever and localised English/Spanish/French/German soundtrack is recorded in a theater and then mixed/muxed.

Perhaps in a couple of years local pirate industry becomes more professional with local Thai made releases available for downloads as well. I, personally, wish they sort our subtitles problem - it seems every country releases translation in a couple of days for everyone's use, but not Thais.

[onethailand]

They don't need to record a movie on a mobile phone, they need only [Thai] soundtrack. You can download a movie in a couple of hours, add your new soundtrack, re-encode in DVD format and save as ISO file on a hard drive. When a customer requests it at the stall, you can burn it in the back room in five minutes. That's how business at places like Panthip works.

Many CAM releases on torrents are very similar - video is sourced from one master recording made in Spain, Russia or Germany or whatever and localised English/Spanish/French/German soundtrack is recorded in a theater and then mixed/muxed.

Perhaps in a couple of years local pirate industry becomes more professional with local Thai made releases available for downloads as well. I, personally, wish they sort our subtitles problem - it seems every country releases translation in a couple of days for everyone's use, but not Thais.

Gonna have to agree with this - the occasional CD I get seems to be slightly out of sync when the Thai soundtrack is selected.

That said - I don't think the soundtrack is what they are trying to protect. Or perhaps they are trying to copy the soundtrack themselves, and don't want your mobile ringing while they are recording?

[Plus]

I have no idea what they are trying to do. I thought there are MP3 recorders that are far more suitable for that than mobile phones.

[davejonesbkk]

How do the staff intend to implement this? I keep my mobile in my pocket, does that mean everyone will have to be patted down before going in to watch a movie???

[grantbkk]

Mobiles ban for cinemas

By Petchanet Pratruangkrai

The Nation

Published on May 1, 2008

Mobile phones will soon be banned from cinemas as the government strives to combat the high level of intellectual-property-rights (IPR) violations in the Kingdom.

The move follows a meeting yesterday between Deputy Commerce Minister Banyin Tangpaporn and officers of the International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA). The association urged the creation of a law forbidding mobiles in cinemas, because it found that easy access for high-technology late-model phones had increased copyright infringements. Yesterday's meeting also sought closer cooperation between the IIPA and Thai authorities in the suppression of IPR violations, following Thailand's relegation to the US Priority Watch List (PWL) for failing to protect US movies, music and computer programs against piracy. The list entails extra scrutiny and the threat of economic sanctions if the US decides to pursue complaints before the World Trade Organisation. "The IIPA has called for stringent laws to forbid mobile phones in cinemas, because there is reportedly a high level of violations when they are allowed in," Banyin said. Thai police say cases of mobile phones being used to violate film copyright in cinemas have been reported to them.

The Intellectual Property Department will be asked to call a meeting of relevant agencies, including cinema operators and owners of film copyrights, to discuss the problem. Banyin said film-copyright violations have destroyed the country's image in the eyes of the international community. "We have the Copyright Act to control such crimes; we may need more regulations and stringent punishments."

If this was not proposed in Thailand, where Thainess and kindness merge in a culture of over the top government controls and publicity seeking ministers at all levels are vying for the coveted “Stupid Idea of All Time Award” you would think this is a joke of mythical proportions. Being polite in the “Thai way” I cannot say that Deputy Commerce Minister Banyin Tangpaporn obviously brought his two digit IQ to the party and was the only one in Government House when the media need a sound bite. We don’t really know if he loves the sound of his own voice and to see his name in print or if he had a case of verbal diarrhea when he cut loose with this tripe so I’m going this idiot the benefit of the doubt.

Here is a hypothetical to mull over. You go to a multiplex and hand over your mobile phone to a 19 year old Thai kid from the village that never really went to school nor has he had a criminal or character background check of any kind. You’re going to see Ironman with your GF while your wife is out shopping with the big hairs. You kind of notice the kid (a bit older than the GF) drooling a bit at the high-end Nokia but heck, that’s the main reason to have a high-end phone anyway. What you don’t know is that he hasn’t touched anything so nice since his sister back in January. You head for the theater and forget all about your mobile phone. Who can blame you with so much on your mind?

Two weeks later you get a phone call at the office asking you to check your email for a message from Ironman. You open it, see the attached video and play it. Who doesn’t know what’s on the video? It’s you and the GF, pre-Ironman, trying to emulate a reproductive move you saw on Animal Planet in a short-time hotel, ready for distribution. Long story short: Bt200,000 or the video goes to your wife, mother, kids and bosses email accounts. See you at the Paragon at 4:00 PM by the Ironman cardboard cutout on the 2nd floor.

You were one of the millions of people who thought you had 128 bit encryption because after all, who knew the secret code, press “unlock” press the “*” key, to get to your information. While you were conjuring up how to play Ironman with your GF the kid took a few minutes and dumped everything in your mobile phone into a portable hard drive for later use. Yours and anyone else’s who appeared to be a prospective extortion victim. You see, the kid did have some skills honed in internet cafes while he should have been in school.

Multi-capable phones carry everything you might ever need; all of your personal information including your family’s information and employment details are in the phones memory. All the stuff the kid and his friends need to do the deal. Everyone has the secret files in their mobile phones and that is where they looked first. They now have your home address and photos of your children. Are you one to put any banking information in the address book? Wow, bonus for the kid. Card numbers and a hidden PIN along with electronic payment information. Jackpot!

The kid and his friends repeats the above process until caught then other enterprising youngsters take their place. Do we really want to open up out personal lives to strangers because a deputy minister is blustering without thought to the media? It is totally insane to hand over proprietary and confidential information in an electronic format when the information could be easily lost or stolen to be used against you for financial gain. Even if the mobile phone requires a password it will only take a few more minutes to breach this security feature. Plenty of time if the culprits know you will be gone for about two hours. I recommend: DON’T GIVE YOU PHONE TO STRANGERS AT THE MOVIES. REQUEST A DEPOSIT EQUAL TO THE FULL VALUE OF THE PHONE AND PLACE IN A STEEL LOCKBOX IF YOU MUST SEE THE NEXT JAMES BOND MOVIE. THE BIGGER THE BOX THE BETTER YOUR POINT IS MADE. LEAVE YOU MOBILE IN THE CAR OR AT HOME. BRING ONE OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD STAFF TO THE MALL AND LET THEM HOLD ONTO ALL OF YOU LIFE’S INFORMATION AND PHONE QUALITY VIDEOS/PHOTOS. You’ve vetted them, Right? None of your staff is into extortion, Right?

Meanwhile, I eagerly await the next outburst from the deputy commerce minister. Perhaps it is a medical condition that causes his bazaar behavior.

[IAMSOBAD]

hide the phone in your underwear when you enter the theatre.. whats all the big deal. keep it on vibrate and enjoy the movie.

[virtualman]

It seems like some cinemas in Bangkok have already started to implement some measures: this is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I was going to watch a movie at the Esplanade Cineplex, and I noticed that, at the cinema entrance, the staff was asking some movie goers to leave their mobile phone at the entrance. Each phone they were taking was tagged and then placed in some shelves at the entrance. They were giving another tag with the same number to the phone owners for them to collect back the phone after the movie. When I entered the cinema, they asked me to leave my phone. I replied that I would only be able to do so if they would give me 25,000 bahts in cash in exchange. I explained them that this was a valuable phone (the PDA phone I was carrying that day was worth that price indeed!), and that I would return them the money in exchange for the phone after the movie. They smiled at me and told me it was impossible. Some kind of cinema manager then came to me and explained that this was a new policy and that this measure was to prevent the making of any illegal film copy by cinema patrons. I explained him in return that I had no intention to "film" the movie with my phone and that, according to my own policy, I would only give my phone to the cinema staff in exchange for a security cash deposit equivalent to the phone value. Of course, he disagreed with me. I then told him that, in that case, I would ask for a full refund of my cinema tickets and I would watch the movie in another theatre. He finally smiled at me and let me, my friend, and our mobile phones get in without any further discussion. 

Moreover, I had seen a similar procedure taking place last year at the premiere screening of "Muay Thai" at the SF World cinema: in the same way, they collected all mobile phones at the cinema entrance and gave them back to their owners at the exit.

Interesting ...

In responding in such an unpredictable way to their request that you leave your cell phone with them at the cinema entrance, you also showed them how absurd their procedure was...

I also thinking of that way of responding since I walked out from the movie theatre last year.

I went to the major cineplex a year ago and they asked me to leave my digital camera (25,000 baht) at the entrance for security reason. I had no idea at that time so I left it with the ticketing girl at the entrance. She put it in the small cabinet (I don't think it has the lock) then she wrote my seat number on the very small paper (actually it was teared off from the small note pad) and gave it to me as a receipt. I asked her to write down her name on the slip. But I couldn't enjoy the movie at that time. Worried about my camera. After the movie I went back to the entrance for getting my camera. The girl was not there. The other staff came ato me so I showed him the slip. He opened the small cabinet (no lock) and gave the camera back to me. Since then I never go to the movie theatres.

Now I have a dslr camera and I carry it every days. How comes I leave my camera and the lenses (total cost 100,000 bath) with someone I don't know. I cannot exchange a hundreds baht worth movie with my 100k camera. If they don't trust me how can I trust them. Even if they don't try to learn or test with my camera where I were in the theatre, who knows if they accidently dropped my camera from a shelf or locker.. I don't think you can enjoy the movie if you need to leave your dslr camera or iphone etc. at the entrance.. I hate this procedure. So if I want to see the movies, I only buy the pirate dvd movies and watch them at my room. If the authorities can close down the place like pantips etc..I cannot watch the movies..no problem...I can have more time to enjoy the other things..Not a big deal..

For the embassy, we have no problem...not many people come to the embassy ..but something like the cenima entertainment places many people come and I know that the staff cannot handle with what we left with them... your mobile phone might be handed to the worng people by mistake.. This also happened to me one time in one of the libraries in BKK. So I don't trust them anymore. Sorry that English is not my first language.

[virtualman]

It seems like some cinemas in Bangkok have already started to implement some measures: this is what happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I was going to watch a movie at the Esplanade Cineplex, and I noticed that, at the cinema entrance, the staff was asking some movie goers to leave their mobile phone at the entrance. Each phone they were taking was tagged and then placed in some shelves at the entrance. They were giving another tag with the same number to the phone owners for them to collect back the phone after the movie. When I entered the cinema, they asked me to leave my phone. I replied that I would only be able to do so if they would give me 25,000 bahts in cash in exchange. I explained them that this was a valuable phone (the PDA phone I was carrying that day was worth that price indeed!), and that I would return them the money in exchange for the phone after the movie. They smiled at me and told me it was impossible. Some kind of cinema manager then came to me and explained that this was a new policy and that this measure was to prevent the making of any illegal film copy by cinema patrons. I explained him in return that I had no intention to "film" the movie with my phone and that, according to my own policy, I would only give my phone to the cinema staff in exchange for a security cash deposit equivalent to the phone value. Of course, he disagreed with me. I then told him that, in that case, I would ask for a full refund of my cinema tickets and I would watch the movie in another theatre. He finally smiled at me and let me, my friend, and our mobile phones get in without any further discussion. 

Moreover, I had seen a similar procedure taking place last year at the premiere screening of "Muay Thai" at the SF World cinema: in the same way, they collected all mobile phones at the cinema entrance and gave them back to their owners at the exit.

Interesting ...

In responding in such an unpredictable way to their request that you leave your cell phone with them at the cinema entrance, you also showed them how absurd their procedure was...

I also thinking of that way of responding since I walked out from the movie theatre last year.

I went to the major cineplex a year ago and they asked me to leave my digital camera (25,000 baht) at the entrance for security reason. I had no idea at that time so I left it with the ticketing girl at the entrance. She put it in the small cabinet (I don't think it has the lock) then she wrote my seat number on the very small paper (actually it was teared off from the small note pad) and gave it to me as a receipt. I asked her to write down her name on the slip. But I couldn't enjoy the movie at that time. Worried about my camera. After the movie I went back to the entrance for getting my camera. The girl was not there. The other staff came ato me so I showed him the slip. He opened the small cabinet (no lock) and gave the camera back to me. Since then I never go to the movie theatres.

Now I have a dslr camera and I carry it every days. How comes I leave my camera and the lenses (total cost 100,000 bath) with someone I don't know. I cannot exchange a hundreds baht worth movie with my 100k camera. If they don't trust me how can I trust them. Even if they don't try to learn or test with my camera where I were in the theatre, who knows if they accidently dropped my camera from a shelf or locker.. I don't think you can enjoy the movie if you need to leave your dslr camera or iphone etc. at the entrance.. I hate this procedure. So if I want to see the movies, I only buy the pirate dvd movies and watch them at my room. If the authorities can close down the place like pantips etc..I cannot watch the movies..no problem...I can have more time to enjoy the other things..Not a big deal..

For the embassy, we have no problem...not many people come to the embassy ..but something like the cenima entertainment places many people come and I know that the staff cannot handle with what we left with them... your mobile phone might be handed to the worng person by mistake.. This also happened to me one time in one of the libraries in BKK. So I don't trust them anymore. Sorry that English is not my first language.

Edited May 3, 2008 by virtualman

[Jimi007]

Another crazy and stupid (and unenforceable) law the Thai government plans to bring out; in a country where so much depends on face I am again and again surprised how willingly politicians act like kindergarten-age children and put cake all over their face.

It is obvious that NOBODY films a movie in a cinema and puts it on a DVD for sale by using a mobile phone. We are not in the 80s any more.

Nowadays those are highly professional operations with CD-pressing equipment using very good digital copies of the films themselves; so large amounts of money are involved that they must be available to such operations maybe even from insiders form the studios or distribution companies themselves.

But then again, if it is so obvious common knowledge, why do the Thais not scream with laughter and such "news" is really printed in a newspaper? Amazing Thailand.

So what do you want the Thai government to do? Shut down Pantip Plaza and similar places? That is what the U.S. want, but do we want it? Do you want to pay 30,000 Baht for your computer programs? So Thai government just takes some actions to please the americans but actions that will have no impact on the people here. Maybe not that stupid after all. If Thai government bowed to the U.S. world dicators, our life would become very expensive. U.S. wants globalisation, but for them that means: we, american, leader of the planet, can sell our products wherever we want without restrictions, but don't dare to copy us! I wonder what kind of sanctions they would take against Thailand.

So, you think American companies should develop software and other products, such as drugs, movies, computers etc and anyone should be able to copy those products and pay nothing? That sounds just like the Chinese and Thai's. Why pay for research and development when the USA will do it for us and we can just copy it. Are you really saying that? Genius!

[AsiaCheese]

So what do you want the Thai government to do? Shut down Pantip Plaza and similar places? That is what the U.S. want, but do we want it? Do you want to pay 30,000 Baht for your computer programs? So Thai government just takes some actions to please the americans but actions that will have no impact on the people here. Maybe not that stupid after all. If Thai government bowed to the U.S. world dicators, our life would become very expensive. U.S. wants globalisation, but for them that means: we, american, leader of the planet, can sell our products wherever we want without restrictions, but don't dare to copy us! I wonder what kind of sanctions they would take against Thailand.

Production of physical products in the US has gone down for years. Factories have moved to Asia to take advantage of the cheap labor. Some of the bigest exports that the US now has are movies, software, music and such. If these cannot be protected, they will lose even more money.

Do you not think that Europe would be pressing for IPR protection if they made all the software, movies and music that were being pirated?

Europe complains about the fake luxury consumer goods. They would be complaining even more if these products were sold as widely as movies, music and software. The luxury consumer products companies from Europe rip people off with the high prices. There is no reason that a handbag should cost $10,000+. It is only because of the name. The bag probably cost very little to develop and very little to produce. Where as software costs a lot to develop, but very little to produce on the CDs. So there is a justification for the price to be high for software, but none for the Gucci bag.

Why shouldn't the US be able to sell its products in Thailand? Thailand sells products to the US.

Yes, there is piracy (always has been), and yes, it is hurting US and other countries' business. But make no mistake: for many years now, the most "productive" arm of record + film companies has been their PR and legal departments, telling everyone how much they suffer and how "their" artists lose money.

I've been involved in the music business for many years in the past, and watched record company people spoil themselves silly -- with money they ripped off their artists (forced publishing contracts, massive royalty deductions etc. etc.) and buyers. To give you just one example of "company piracy": when the CD was introduced, there was a hefty price increase over vinyl records, plus record companies grabbed more royalty off their contract artists -- claiming that "tooling up" for CDs cost them a fortune. It did, for about 1 year. After that, prices didn't go back to normal; it was just more money in record companies' pockets -- coming from YOUR pocket. But that's only one isolated issue of many.

Record companies more or less stopped developing artists, putting their bets on barbie dolls like Britney Sp. and other artificial 1-hit wonders instead -- and then were surprised that sales started to drop continuously. Then came the Internet and started to bite them in the a55. No more excessive coke parties (no budget) anymore, no stretched limos to the supermarket anymore, no godly status anymore...

Second major thing is: someone has yet to prove that they're actually losing money on piracy. There have been studies made by independent groups (universities, NOT RIAA affiliated...) showing that people who download songs rather often go out and buy the CD (or, in a more "modern" version, buy more songs from the artist from iTunes). Looking at Apple's sales figures speaks volumes. That alone greatly relativizes the "billions of $ lost" that record and film companies claim.

Re software, same issue: there was a massive increase in sales of Microsoft Office, once Microsoft decided to roughly half their prices to "reasonable" levels (in the early Office days)... Speaks volumes, doesn't it???

Just some thoughts regarding piracy and what brings it on...

[johwel]

good evening everyone,

One day not so long ago, I went to the cinema with my cellphone in a small camera bag, which hung over my shoulder. The ticket guy stopped me, asking me to leave my "camera" behind. After I have showed him it is just a cellphone (old Siemens SX1) he still seemed reluctant to let me through. As I sat down in the cinema, a spot light focussed on me and I realised it was time to get a new cellphone pouch. Maybe this was one of the reported cases!

Concerning the software piracy, maybe the time has come to switch to Linux and opensource.

[dolvitius]

Some update...

I went yesterday to the Paragon Cineplex to attend the premiere of the movie "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull". The movie was shown in the large Siam Pavalai theatre. A table had been placed at the cinema entrance and some cinema staff were inviting movie goers to deposit their cell phones before the show. Each phone deposited was put into an individual and tagged transparent plastic bag. The funny thing is that it was not mandatory to leave the phone at the counter before entering the theatre. In fact, everyone, before entering the theatre, was free to approach the table to deposit his/her phone, or not to do so! But what I noticed is that a significant number of cinema patrons were naturally going to the table to deposit their cell phone as soon as it was in their sight! Interestingly, at the end of the show, they had moved the table to the other side of the theatre entrance. There were still dozens - if not, hundreds - of phones waiting to be collected by their owners. The Siam Pavalai is a 1,200-seat theatre and, yesterday, it was about 3/4 full. I found it simply amazing that so many people could leave their phone without any guarantee to retrieve it later!

[himachal]

I recall standing on the platform of Sala Daeng BTS once, with a clear view of someone putting CDs into what looked like about 20 copying machines. Next to me was a BIB, who was looking the other way. Perfect photo opportunity, if only I'd had my mobile with me!!!