# Stopping Movie Piracy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465 "2006-04-27T16:32:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/1 "2006-04-27T16:32:50Z")
A friend of an aquaintance asked me if I was interested in buying some bootleg copies of recent movies (like, movies that are still in the theaters as we speak). I turned him down. Anyway, is there some central clearinghouse somewhere, like a website or an 800-number, where one can report movie piracy? And please don’t say “Call the local police.” The police department in this city has bigger fish to fry. Would the FBI possibly be interested? Does the FBI have a tip line? ---
**Author:** ![dmatsch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@dmatsch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmatsch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/2 "2006-04-27T16:37:48Z")
Please don’t tell me you would actually report your friend to the police about pirated movies? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/3 "2006-04-27T16:48:45Z")
You could report the piracy to the [MPAA](http://www.mpaa.org/ReportPiracy.asp). ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/4 "2006-04-27T16:50:19Z")
> [@dmatsch](#): > > Please don’t tell me you would actually report your friend to the police about pirated movies? First of all, no, it’s not a friend. It’s someone who I know in name only. I’ve never met him, but he did call and introduce himself as “I’m Such-n-Such, a friend of So-n-So…” Secondly, I’m not calling the police. The police have bigger fish to fry. I want to call some “Stop Movie Piracy” number who can investigate this futher. And BTW, what we’re talking about here isn’t some teenager with a P2P system downloading movies. We’re talking about a guy who takes a video camera into a theater, records the movies, then burns DVDs of the movies and sells them. Call me a prude, but I think that’s kind-of wrong. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/5 "2006-04-27T16:51:14Z")
> [@dmatsch](#): > > Please don’t tell me you would actually report your friend to the police about pirated movies? It’s a “friend of an acquaintance” and what’s that got to do with the fact that it’s illegal? ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/6 "2006-04-27T17:14:03Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > It’s a “friend of an acquaintance” and what’s that got to do with the fact that it’s illegal? Taking a line from **Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment** : > [@the Simpsons](#): > > **So you’ve decided to steal cable. > Myth:** Cable piracy is wrong. > **Fact:** Cable companies are big faceless corporations, which makes it okay Just swap _‘Cable’_ for _‘Big-buget film studios’_…the concept’s pretty much the same. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/7 "2006-04-27T18:51:35Z")
Just download a screener of some as-yet-unrealeased film and look for the scroll with a phone number on the bottom to report the pirated movie. Note to mods: Kidding! ---
**Author:** ![rainy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@rainy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rainy)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2006, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/8 "2006-04-27T19:31:20Z")
I used to own a video store. If the number hasn’t changed its 1-800-NO-COPIES. -rainy PS-don’t expect staggering results ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2006, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stopping-movie-piracy/354465/9 "2006-04-28T10:41:40Z")
Or just let him get away with it. Unless he’s Jerry Seinfeld the quality sucks so bad that whoever buys those things deserves to have them.