The mayor of New York has just signed a little piece of paper making it a misdemeanor now if you are involved with film piracy. This means that instead of it being punishable by a $250 fine before, it is now punishable by 6 months in jail or a whopping $5,000 fine.
Pirated movies cost major U.S. film studios more than $6 billion in 2005, according to the MPAA. And a new study by the group shows that the New York movie industry loses an estimated $1.5 billion a year because of piracy, and the local economy suffers further with lost earnings, tax revenue and jobs.
Hopefully this can help the movie industry get on with what they do best, make good films. And hopefully they can get paid accordingly for what they do. I wonder if the mayor has signed something about music piracy as well?