The April Essay
by Chiaki Yoneoka, Japan
No More Movie Thief
I am not an internet pirate. I do not download movies and music from Internet. The reason is very clear, because the act of Internet pirates is against the law in Japan.
In fact Internet pirates are seldom arrested by police in my country. However Motion pictures association of Japan has held a big campaign against them. The association always shows you a campaign movie before a film is screened all time you go to a theater in Japan.
The campaign movie would be funny for foreigners. Three people appeared in the movie, which are a camera-guy, a woman and a red-lamp-guy. The camera-guy is a person who shoots a film illegally in a theater using his hidden video camera. The woman is a character who enjoys uploading and downloading movies on Internet. Finally the red-lamp-guy warms and arrests another two as a police. If you interested in the movie, click following link. In the last of the movie, the movie says a slogan, “No more movie thief!”
I sometimes see news concerning movie thieves, Internet pirates. One news reported Internet pirate was a professor of a famous University. The other case was a public officer who had better keep the law. I think buying DVDs or going to theaters is not very difficult for me. I can rent DVDs from rental DVD shops in the last resort. I have no reason to become a Internet pirate in spite of risks that probably take away my job.
And, moreover, I am bound not to concentrate on a movie if I download it from Internet because I would be afraid that the red-lamp-guy might come in to my room.
posted April 1, 2012
M.A. Chester