It's a little-known fact that Canada's famous Mounties, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, don't have enough work so Hollywood, already generously helping other similarly under-employed police forces around the world, has stepped in.

Quoted in The Toronto Star, Serge Corriveau, head of spinstigations for MPAA clone the Canadian Motion Picture Distributors Association (CMPDA), reckons as many as 40% of pirated DVDs start off in Canada, the bulk coming from Montreal.

The last report we saw said 50%. Anyway, "It's a persistent problem in Montreal," says Corriveau, not troubling to specify the source of his data. The level of organization is such that these movies are distributed very rapidly using the Internet, whether it's in the U.S., Europe or Asia."

Enter the Mounties.

"The RCMP is currently in the midst of a large-scale investigation in Montreal, and while the force won't discuss the details of the case, detectives say they are working with the distributors group and others to track down the bootleggers," says the story, which also has constable William McKay of the Montreal RCMP's federal enforcement unit declaring, "Private industry has noticed these films are being distributed worldwide; we're working with them to solve the problem."

Meanwhile, "camming" (haven't seen that one before) where people use, "sophisticated handheld cameras to surreptitiously record films upon their cinematic release," is serious, says The Toronto Star, "And U.S. law enforcement and movie industry officials have fingered Montreal as an international hub for 'cammers'."

"Cammed" recordings are, "quickly shipped through the Internet to bootleggers" and, "The bootleggers are becoming more inventive, looking farther afield and getting accomplices. Last year, a movie theatre employee in Roberval, a town in the remote Lac St. Jean region, was arrested and charged with helping someone enter a film so it could be copied. It was thought to be the first case of its kind."

Meanwhile, Hollywood is, "stepping up its lobbying efforts to force the federal government into cracking down on film bootlegging by changing the Criminal Code," says the story.

"Last week, Canada's movie theatre owners sent a letter to Justice Minister Rob Nicholson seeking an amendment to the code that would make it a crime to record a movie in a theatre - the act of filming is not allowed, but it's not currently a criminal offence and, 'We think (Nicholson) has to get up to speed on this quickly'," says the Cineplex Entertainment's Ellis Jacob sternly.

(Thanks, TT)

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Also See:
The Toronto Star - Hollywood puts squeeze on Canada, January 30, 2007
50% - Hollywood threatens Canada, January 26, 2007