Technology, Law Enforcement, and Illegal Camcording in Philippine Cinemas: A Preliminary Analysis

Abstract

This article examines the law enforcement mechanism for the implementation of the Anti-illegal Camcording Act of 2010 in selected Philippine cinemas against film piracy and illegal camcording. Using sociological perspectives, especially some tenets of the Actor-Network Theory (ANT), and qualitative data from testimonies of twenty student-informants who witnessed actual illegal camcording inside some cinemas in Metro Manila, interviews from the chairperson and agents of the Optical Media Board (OMB, the Philippines’ lead agency against media piracy), personal observation and experience of the author as a moviegoer, media reports, and research literature, it argues that effective law enforcement against illegal camcording entails an efficient and effective use of human and technological surveillance and policing with the application of the latest digital technologies to track down illegal recording inside cinemas. Results showed that illegal camcording, which occurred in movie theaters in Metro Manila and witnessed by the study’s student informants, was primarily caused by the lack of efficient human monitoring by cinema personnel and government agents, as well as by the absence of the latest surveillance and detection technologies in theaters, which could have deterred illegal recording of films by pirates inside movie houses. Although the cases may be dated, this study nevertheless provides an eye-witness account and sociological insight on the loopholes of law enforcement against film piracy in movie theaters. It recommends efficient human and technological surveillance in cinemas, including the use of the latest anti-piracy technologies, to implement the law.

Keywords: Actor-Network Theory (ANT), Film Piracy, Illegal Camcording, Technology, Law Enforcement

JEL Classification: K11, K42, K4, K9, Z13, Z28, Z18