Metal Detectors Proposed for City Theaters

With "Superman Returns" hitting theaters nationwide this holiday weekend and bootleggers expected to try to rush pirated DVDs to the street, one City Council member proposed a crackdown method that even Tinseltown seems to consider excessive.

While a council committee considered possible penalties for selling movies illegally - such as improving police training to detect counterfeits and allowing DVD piracy to be reported through the 311 system - a member of the council who represents Brooklyn suggested that city theaters be outfitted with metal detectors to nab bootleggers before they can bring cameras to videotape the silver screen.

"It's a matter of public safety," Council Member Darlene Mealy said. "Same as our children have to go through metal detectors in schools."

The City Council has a reputation for bizarre and unenforceable laws, including a little-known ban on using cell phones in movie theaters. But the metal detector idea seemed to be in a league of its own. Even movie industry representatives, who descended on City Hall to promote tough policies against bootlegging, balked at treating moviegoers like airline passengers.

"The other question you raise about metal detectors in theaters, other sorts of intrusive devices, searching people as they come into the theater - we're also anxious to ensure a positive theater experience for the public," the vice president for anti-piracy at the Motion Picture Association of America, Mike Robinson, said.

That didn't assuage Ms. Mealy.

"I beg to differ," she said later, calling the idea a "serious" post-September 11 proposal to protect lives and jobs.

The financial stakes of piracy are high, witnesses said. The city loses more than $1 billion every year in tax revenue from counterfeiting, a 2004 study by the city comptroller estimated. Ms. Mealy's metal-detector initiative wasn't the only thing in yesterday's hearing that set off pre-July 4 fireworks.

Council Member David Yassky blasted Mr. Bloomberg's efforts to crack down on counterfeits as "poor."

"The administration should have a lot more to say than this about film piracy," he said.

Mr.Yassky said he was upset that one of the witnesses, the legislative director for the Department of Consumer Affairs, Andrew Eiler, said his department had no jurisdiction to crack down on bootleggers because it's a police matter - prompting Mr. Yassky to ask why police brass didn't testify instead.

Mr. Eiler seemed confused at the indignation, noting he was an invited witness. A council member who represents Queens, Leroy Comrie Jr., said piracy legislation could debut as soon as September. "I'm in a good mood today, so I'm not going to beat anybody up at the moment," he said.