Digital Home Thoughts: maVen Does Not Pass Go For Movie Recording

"An FBI investigation into ‘maVen’ had been running for some time and was handed to the Canadian Police in April 2006. A few months later Geremi Adam was arrested after he allegedly recorded the movies “How to Eat Fried Worms” and “Invincible” at a Montreal movie theater."

I am taking a deep breath here. What maVen did was illegal. There, I said it. Now I am sure there will be some people up in arms saying that the Geremi Adam, and the rest of maVen, were heros. I will not debate that. Understand that what maVen did was not just file sharing, but actually going into theaters and recording copies of movies and then selling them online or in person. The issue about copying movies, theft vs. infringement, movie companies charge too much, etc, is not relevant. Current law says that what he did, and I do not think anyone involved disputes that, is illegal. Should it be illegal? Is it ethical what he did? That all depends on where you stand and your moral backing, and well, we all rationalize whatever we do; it is a personal choice. But if you dive into the world of movie sharing, be aware that there are dangers big and small, likely and unlikely and not just from people trying to get you to download "special codecs" or mislabeled movies.