Hollywood wants $15 million from Pirate Bay Downloads

Hollywood wants $15.4 million in damages for copyright infringement from the people behind The Pirate Bay, according to a claim filed by industry organization the Motion Picture Association.

Pirate Bay is one of the most widely used BitTorrent trackers for music, movies and software. Previously the recording industry, computer game developers and local movie companies, have specified damages totalling $15.4 million dollars.

Included in the claim are "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," "The Pink Panther," "Syriana," "Walk the Line," and 13 episodes from the first season of "Prison Break."

"The Pink Panther" is the most popular title among Pirate Bay users; the least popular, by a mile, is "Syriana." They have been downloaded 49,593 and 3,679 times, respectively, according to MAQS, the law firm which represents MPA.

The damages are based onper downloaded movie and every time someone had downloaded a copy of Prison Break. The sums are not unreasonable, because the distributed files didn't include copy protection, and were made available before the release of a DVD or a legal download, according to MAQS.

Included in the final sum is also interest, which will continue to grow, and damages for the harm Pirate Bay has caused.

Torrentspy.com fined $111 Million

A $111 million law suite has ruled in favor of 6 major Hollywood studios against file-sharing web site TorrentSpy.com

The web site was fined a total of $30,000 for almost 3,700 movie and television show downloads which were on offer.

Torrentspy.com was shut down in March and its operators Valence Media LLC have filed for bankruptcy protection in the UK asking for judgment on the ruling to be stayed.

In a major win for Hollywood studios, a California federal judge has ordered TorrentSpy to pay some $110 million in damages for infringing the copyright of thousands of films and TV shows through its BitTorrent search engine.

The Los Angeles judge, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, also issued a permanent injunction against TorrentSpy, which was once one of the most popular indexes of BitTorrent files before it shut down in March after a two-year copyright battle with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The company closed its site on March 24, citing financial hardship and a desire to protect the privacy of its users.

MPAA CEO Dan Glickman said the judgment should serve as warning to other search services of file-sharing applications.

"The demise of TorrentSpy is a clear victory for the studios and demonstrates that such pirate sites will not be allowed to continue to operate without facing relentless litigation by copyright holders," he said in a statement.

The judge ordered TorrentSpy to pay $30,000 per copyright infringement for 3,699 films and shows. That works out to be worth $110,970,000. How that amount will be paid is unclear. A call to TorrentSpy's attorney was not immediately returned. The judgment puts a fine point on another long battle between technologists and copyright holders.

The studios originally sued TorrentSpy in February 2006, alleging that the site promoted and contributed to online copyright infringement by helping people locate illegally copied films and television shows on the Internet. Last December, a federal judge sided with the MPAA by saying that TorrentSpy had destroyed evidence that would make a fair trial possible.

According to the court, TorrentSpy operators had intentionally modified or deleted directory headings naming copyrighted titles and forum posts that explained how to find specific copyrighted works; concealed IP addresses of users; and withheld the names and addresses of forum moderators. The company had previously been fined $30,000 for violations of discovery orders and were warned of severe sanctions if they continued to ignore the orders.

TorrentSpy's attorney, Ira Rothken, called that ruling "draconian in nature and unfair." He said he did not believe any data was intentionally destroyed, and that some actions were taken to protect the privacy of TorrentSpy users.

Rothken also said at the time that TorrentSpy would appeal any decision on damages.

Still, the permanent injunction prohibits Valence Media, operator of TorrentSpy, from engaging in any activity that "encourages, promotes or solicits, or knowingly facilitates, enables or assists, copyright infringement," according to the court.

ISPs Must Tackle Download Piracy

Internet service providers, website operators and manufacturers of devices that are used by some to pirate content should play a part in stamping out that piracy, Sumner Redstone, chairman and controlling shareholder of both Viacom and CBS, said on Tuesday.

"It is obviously impossible to check every computer or look over the shoulder of every user around the world to see whether they have a license to use our content and we don’t want to do that," said Redstone in a keynote address to the Seoul Digital Forum. "So solutions turn on enlisting the aggregators - ISPs, device manufacturers, hosting companies, and site operators - in this effort. We're not ask for perfection. But we do ask that companies that become aware of piracy using their facilities, do something about it."

Redstone, who was on his first visit to South Korea, spent about one third of his keynote address at the event speaking about piracy and the damage it does to companies like his own.

"When you can instantly and easily download a high-quality, feature length film for free, with no repercussions, the incentive to purchase it quickly evaporates," he said. "If this sort of theft is allowed to continue unabated, the incentive to create programming will disappear."

While battling piracy content providers need to continue forging on into new media markets and utilizing new distribution methods to reach consumers, he said.

"Media companies, in turn, need to make it easy for consumers to obtain our content in a legal manner," said Redstone. "We cannot let the lack of perfect antipiracy tools keep us from forging ahead in providing the best, most innovative, creative content to the consumer over whatever medium they prefet, whenever and wherever they prefer it."

Content providers like Redstone's CBS and Viacom have been battling online piracy of movies and TV shows for several years.

First efforts involved a string of high-profile lawsuits against individual internet users but with so many people participating in file sharing and other forms of piracy the target of actions switched to site operators.

YouTube has been a major focus, and a chorus of complaints from TV stations and movie companies pushed the Google-owned site to introduce a watermarking system that seeks to block copyrighted material from being uploaded.

"They cannot get away with stealing our product," he said of YouTube. We cannot tolerate any form of piracy by anyone including YouTube."

But getting ISPs to monitor and filter traffic of their users has traditionally been a difficult thing to do. Most keep their hands off packets traveling through their networks and devices arguing that they are mere conduits and not responsible for the actions of their users. Today many ISPs in the US will act on copyright complaints but only after a claim has been made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA).

Redstone also called on regulators the world over to ensure copyrights are protected and infringements are punished.

In some nations the tide is turning against piracy thanks to new laws, he said, which were introduced not to help Hollywood but to prevent damage to emerging local content industries.

"The good news is: I am, increasingly preaching to the converted in piracy-prone markets around the world," he said. "Governments in China and India are starting to take an active interest in enforcing copyright, if only to protect their own homegrown content."

Sky TV announce movie download service

Sky TV has announced a new download service that will be charged at $5 per month and offer members unlimited movie and TV programme downloads to their computers.

Starting next month, Sky TV will offer a movie and TV programme download service through its Sky Online website that will allow users unlimited downloads for $5 per month.

Users will need to be current Sky TV subscribers, and for movie downloads you will need to be a Sky Movies subscriber. Sky TV chief executive John Fellet says the available movies will closely mirror the Sky Movies offering. Sky Box Office movies will not be included in the service.

Initially, only movies and programmes that have already screened on Sky will be available for download, but Sky is negotiating with Hollywood studios to secure rights to sell movies online that have not been broadcast on the TV service.

Telstra Clear and Vodafone are underpinning the service and John Fellet says these ISPs are likely to offer special deals that will reduce the broadband data charges users will face.

Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen was not able to supply details and said that negotiations with Sky were still on-going.

Files will be delivered in the Windows Media format and will come with Microsoft's Advanced DRM 2.9. This means the file will be locked to the machine it is downloaded to and will come with a time-specific licence that may be anything from one week to a month.

Users can watch the movie or programme as many times as they like within the licence period. When the licence has expired, the user can log back in to the service to the renew the licence if it is still available.

Sky TV general manager Sam Morse said licences will remain current in much the same time frame that the same movies are playing on the Sky Movies TV service.

Apple losing money on iTunes movie download service

It’s common knowledge that superstores sell many products at a loss to get you into the store, once your there, they hope you will buy many other products to make them a profit in total. Selling products at a loss also builds their brand and business by word of mouth. When it comes to online stores and Apple iTunes things are no different, they would sell certain services and products at cost or even make a loss to build the brand and hope for repeat business from you.

Today we are hearing that Apple may be losing money on the new iTunes movie download service, the hype surrounding this new service is the fact that the movie downloads are being made available on the same day as the DVD release. This has been setup with an agreement between Apple and film studios (this includes the six largest movie studios).

From this week you will be able to buy new movies for $14.99 on iTunes, but it has been reported that Apple are paying around $15.50 for each movie, that may only be a $0.51 loss but over millions of downloads (that’s a big loss). Now Apple must have a plan here, and I am guessing that if millions of movie downloads do happen, Apple will be in a position to demand a better price from the movie studios.

Apple to Sell Movie DVDs

Apple, maker of the iPod media player, said yesterday that it would start selling movies through its iTunes online store the same day they are released on DVD.

New releases from studios, including Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros., will cost $14.99, Apple said in a statement. Previously, customers had to wait several weeks after the DVDs debuted. The service will start with such movies as "American Gangster" and "Juno" this week.

Chief executive Steve Jobs is counting on movies to increase sales of iPods, Macintosh computers and Apple TV devices, which let users watch downloaded films on their widescreen televisions. In January, Jobs said customers had bought 7 million movies, which was below his expectations. Apple began selling movies and television shows on iTunes in October 2005.

"People want to watch a movie as soon as it comes out, and they don't want to have to wait," said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Jupiter Research in New York. "What Apple is doing is knocking down one more barrier for why you wouldn't want to buy a movie from them."

New titles will also be available from News Corp.'s Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Co., Universal Studios, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios.

The studios are betting that Apple will repeat its success in music with films, Gartenberg said. "They are feeling that iTunes is an important venue."

ITunes, with more than 6 million songs, is already the most popular site for legal music downloads, according to NPD Group in Port Washington, N.Y. Apple said last month that iTunes had surpassed Wal-Mart Stores as the biggest music retailer in the United States. Apple has sold more than 4 billion songs since opening the iTunes store in April 2003.

Apple offers more than 1,500 films, including 200 in high definition. Studios now sell older movies for $9.99 each and provide films for rental under a service Jobs introduced in January. Apple said yesterday that it has 1,000 movies for rent.

"The Internet is a growing channel and one that many believe is the ultimate future of entertainment distribution," said Ross Rubin, an analyst at NPD. "For Apple, it's another step in reaching parity with the retail DVD market."

With digital downloads and rentals, the studios still need to figure out how to make movies available without jeopardizing the more lucrative DVD sales, said Steve Diamond, an entertainment-law professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, Calif.

At the same time, the studios want to put films online to stem the demand for pirated copies, he said.

Free Movie Download Risks

Looking to download the newest Hollywood hit movie from the Internet free of charge? Everyone you know seems to be doing it and maybe you'd like get in on this too. Or you may have done this a few times and are itching to get even more. Whether or not you've already downloaded some pirated movies, you might want to think about it. A good deal of the 'free movies' on the Internet are violating copyright law. The consumers who download these movies are technically breaking the law and could be setting themselves up for a lawsuit.

The problem of on line theft is growing every year and organizations like the MPAA are stepping up their efforts to fight it. When someone illegally downloads copyrighted films and movies, they leave themselves vulnerable to legal prosecution. Although getting caught is still somewhat unlikely, this will change in the future.

Sometimes, the file that gets downloaded is infested with viruses, spy ware, or unwanted pornography. People have experienced unwanted withdrawals from their bank accounts because of the release of private information. File sharing networks such as peer-to-peer (p2p) are especially insidious in this regard.

If you do your downloading off p2p networks, you may get a file that is nothing more than advertisements. In order to get access to the actual movie, you might be required to jump through a 'few' hoops. Usually it involves submitting your email address to an endless array of advertising promotions.

Both the music and film industries are taking online piracy very seriously and are working on ways to fight it. In the future, penalties such as criminal prosecution and having your ISP cut off your Internet access (proposals for this are in the works in the UK) will become a matter of course. European laws which facilitate the prosecution of people illegally downloading with p2p networks have been proposed.

Online movie memberships do not deal in pirated movies and offer safety from worms, viruses, spy ware and mal ware. By comparison, downloading free movies is full of risk. The required movie player needed to view your free movie or the shared file you've downloaded may be infested with a virus.

Increasingly, the established online download memberships are collaborating with the major studios to provide a huge array of quality movies. You can get peace of mind by staying clear of the hazardous risks that come with illegal downloads. Keep your computer, your bank account and your privacy secure by joining a legal movie download membership such as Vizumi Movie Download or Apple Movies.

Why Use Movie Download Membership Services?

With the advance of technology and the growth of the Internet, we are no longer forced to drive to the local video rental store to get our movies. We can make our movie selection on the Internet and wait for the video to arrive by mail. However our options don't end there since we can also select and view the movie immediately online.

There are two ways to go about this. We can pay for our movies via a movie download membership site such as Vizumi or we can try for the free route online. Here we discuss the benefits that an online membership has over the offline video rental store as well as the advantages of the paid membership over the free alternatives online.

A big advantage of joining a movie download site is the sheer size of movie title selection that you have access to. You can download as often and as much as you please from these extensive movie archives. Traditional brick and mortar DvD stores have a storage capacity that is limited by building space.

This means that they are forced to cater to popular tastes. Online download memberships don't suffer from this type of restriction and therefore can accommodate a broader variety of movie genres. If you're into the more obscure movies whether they are very old classics or cult films, you are more likely to find them online.

Searching online is often an easier task than browsing through endless shelves for a particular movie in a brick and mortar store. An online site will usually have a search box that can search by the title, actor, director or any particular keyword. Also, lists that group movies into different categories or genres are usually provided.

In addition to movie genre, their lists often group movies by popularity, latest additions, critic picks and alphabetically. Some even allow the members themselves to rate and write reviews for the movies. Movie reviews given by ordinary people can often be a better indicator of a movie's entertainment value than those of professional critics.

Online memberships have a large selection of movies in their archives. Free online movies that are actually legal are generally public domain movies with expired or un renewed copyrights. These tend to be very old 'classic' movies.

The major television networks will usually make recent episodes of popular TV series available for viewing on their web sites. However, only a select few of these series are available and only for a limited time.

Movie download memberships are safe from viruses, worms, spy ware and mal ware. However, downloading movies from 'free' sites can be a game of Russian roulette. For example, if you download using p2p, you are sharing files with a multitude of other users and are trusting that none of these strangers will infect the file with spy ware or viruses.

These are just some of the benefits that paid online movie download sites have over your local video store and over the so called free alternatives that exist online. The speed, convenience and economy of getting entertainment directly off the Internet is nothing short of amazing. However the shortcomings and risks of the 'free' downloads available online makes the choice of paid memberships a very intelligent and sensible decision.

Carrefour Plans Movie Downloads

French Supermarket Giant Carrefour are the latest supermarket to launch a movie download store.

The world’s second largest retail group after Wal-Mart is to offer download-to-own and download-to-rent films and TV shows in France, Spain, Belgium and Italy. President Christophe Geoffroy (via THR): “It’s very important for Carrefour to have more than one point of sale. We have to be in contact with the consumer in their homes as well as in-store. We know full well that the market forecast for VOD is low at the moment, but we are convinced that it will develop over the coming years and we want to provide a legal solution for customers to see the best possible content.”

In the UK, Tesco plans to begin offering movie downloads to complement its music download service in the UK according to an interview with the high street retailer and the BBC.

However, it’s not yet clear whether supermarkets can replicate their impulse in-store DVD purchases in to specific online sales.

Although there are no confirmed plans at the moment, the food retailer Tesco is looking into the possibility once broadband speeds and capacity rise further. Tesco currently holds a small but significant 10% share in the UK music download industry and feels that the movies are the next step.

Tesco isn't the first company to suggest a move to offer downloading films. Both Wippit and Napster announced earlier in the year that they are planning to to offer film downloads. Wippit going as far as suggesting a charge of around 99p per movie.

Wal-Mart canned its download store in December after making what was said to be only “peanuts” in relative terms. Carrefour runs the 5 minutes and 8 a HuiT convenience stores as well as its eponymous hypermarkets.

Australian Police Caught Pirating Movies

According to The Australian, during an audit of computer systems by the South Australian police force’s IT branch, police computers belonging to hundreds of police officers were found to contain movies.

The origin of these movies is not clear, but it is probable that they’ve been downloaded via p2p at some point, either on these systems, or on the personal systems of officers and transferred over.

Senior officials of the SA police force have been made aware of the findings, including its commissioner Mel Hyde. However, police sources have told press that there will not be any investigation into this, citing the large numbers of police officers involved.

The Australian Federation against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has said it will write to the commissioner to seek an explanation, presumably as to why the police officers are being let off with what it considers a heinous crime. Quite ironically, AFACT boasts of “working closely with police” - perhaps this closeness has shown the police officers involved just how unimportant and meaningless this so-called ‘crime’ is in the grand scheme of things.

If the officers do go unpunished, it could create a favorable precedent for filesharers in South Australia. If police officers, who are expected to be held to a greater level of accountability regarding the law, show this level of contempt for the current copyright laws, are unpunished, it will make it harder to convince a court that regular citizen should be punished for similar acts.

On the other hand, if the officers are punished under the law, which allows for upto AUS$60,500 (About US$55,700 or 35,500Euro) per infringement and up to 5 years imprisonment, the ability to effectively police the state will be severely diminished.

Either way, this case will bring to a head the vastly disproportionate penalties for an act that, as yet, has never been proven to be even financially damaging. One thing is certain, when even the police officers join large numbers of citizens in flouting such laws, the law’s place in society should be called into serious question.

The South Australian police force had not responded to requests for comment at the time of publication.

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Sony talks TV and movie downloads for PS3

Sony has confirmed that it will be bringing gamers video and TV show downloads in the near future.

Peter Dille, senior vice president, marketing and PlayStation Network in the US has said in a post on the company's blog that:

"Many of you have been hearing rumblings about a video service that will allow you to download full-length TV shows and movies via PLAYSTATION Network for North America."

He goes on to say: "While I don’t have any new announcements here for the PlayStation Nation, it's already been confirmed that we'll be offering a video service for PS3 in a way that separates the service from others you've seen or used."

"Ultimately the goal of the PLAYSTATION Network service will be to break through the overwhelming clutter of digital media to give you the TV, movies and gaming content you want."

Unfortunately, Dille doesn't expand on what he means by breaking through "the overwhelming clutter", but the BBC has recently confirmed they are planning to bring the video on demand iPlayer service to the PS3 in the UK.

Keep you posted here at Movie Download War

HD VOD could add $5 billion to home entertainment pie

Report: Consumers willing to pay more for High Definition VOD

Shutting the window between DVD and VOD (video-on-demand) and raising the price on high-definition VOD movies could boost consumer home video spending by $5 billion or more annually, according to a new study from international strategy consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

In a survey of 2,000 U.S. consumers for the report “At the Digital Crossroads: The Future of Home Video,” the firm found that consumers would be willing to pay $7 to $9 for an high-def movie on demand or a high-def rental download released in the DVD window. That’s roughly double the $4 they pay today for mostly standard-definition films that debut a month or more after their DVD release.

The higher price would not only optimize VOD revenue, but could also mean a 40% reduction in any cannibalization of DVD sales that come from offering VOD movies in the same window, researchers say.

Oliver Wyman predicts the increased VOD price paired with day-and-date offerings could entice consumers to watch three more movies a year on average, generating an additional $5 billion to $10 billion in consumer spending by 2010.

At the same time, researchers predict Blu-ray sales will increase, leading to a 6% rise in spending on packaged media. DVD retailers also could raise the price by $2 on releases that include an e-copy for transfer to a computer or portable device without consumer repercussions.
It’s worth noting that the company is more optimistic about DVD and packaged media spending than others, estimating 2007 spending of $28.7 billion. Video Business research pegged consumer spending at $22.9 billion.

“This research reveals a clear opportunity for the industry to introduce new offerings that tap unmet consumer demand, while fitting well with existing movie distribution channels,” said Mark Teitell, a partner in Oliver Wyman’s Media & Entertainment practice. “Ultimately, the consumer will benefit the most—and be willing to pay for those benefits—from the additional choice and consumption options.”

The report comes as studios test day-and-date releases with leading cable companies Comcast and Time Warner. Last summer, Warner Bros. said that early results showed a 50% increase in VOD purchases in test markets where movies debuted simultaneously. DVD sales also saw a 10% uptick, according to Warner, but DVD rentals were off 2%.

Warner has begun releasing more films day and date nationally following those tests, with six movies in the first quarter getting a simultaneous release. Other studios have been more reluctant to shut the window.

The movie downloads business also would benefit from a closed window and higher pricing for high-definition rentals, researchers say. The study predicts that spending for Internet-downloaded rentals and sales will grow to $2.5 billion by 2009.

Consumers surveyed prefer renting a movie online to buying a digital download because they don’t believe owning a digital copy is the same as owning a DVD. However, if digital downloads worked on more devices and consumers could burn a copy to DVD and have a backup copy kept in an online storage locker, consumers said they’d be willing to pay $5 more to buy a digital download.

Currently, digital downloads are severely limited in playback by digital rights management technology. Film downloads bought through iTunes can be played on any computer with iTunes software, on iPods and the Apple TV. Film downloads bought through other Internet download companies that use Microsoft DRM can only be viewed on a PC or a Windows-compatible portable player.

Moviestar join Movie Download Bandwagon

Irish-based online DVD rental company Moviestar.ie is set to launch a digital video-on-demand download service in May. Moviestar Digital will allow customers to download movies and TV shows to their laptop, PC or portable media players with prices starting at EUR 0.99 initially.

The company behind the service claims to have secured the rights to content from a number of Irish producers and to have a comprehensive film library in place. Moviestar.ie also claims to be currently in negotiations with the History and Biography channels and with a number of major Hollywood studios.

Moviestar.ie, which was launched just over a year ago by Gavin and Iain McConnon, allows subscribers to rent unlimited DVDs for a set monthly fee starting at EUR 7.99 DVDs are posted to the user and can be sent back when they've finished watching the film or television series.

Moviestar.ie claims to have 28,000 customers and a EUR 1.2 million turnover. It said it intends to grow its subscriber base to over 40,000 by mid-2008 and its new download service is one of the ways in which it hopes to gain new customers.

"This is very much a rental service rather than a download-to-own one because we feel that ultimately that's where the market is going to go with these things, so the product will expire on your PC after one month with the current catalogue," Moviestar.ie's co-founder Gavin McConnon told ENN.

McConnon outlined the companies with which Moviestar has signed content deals with. "We've secured a deal with Network Television Ireland which has a lot of Irish content - mainly TV shows and admittedly, not the latest Hollywood stuff. We've also had discussions with people at Mipcom, which is the world's largest international audiovisual content trade show, and some of them require minimum guarantees so we've got to get a certain amount of volume going in terms of customers before we can get involved with them. We also have the History and Biography channels on board as well.

"We buy all our stock direct from the wholesalers who deal direct with all the big studios and they've no problems supplying us with content," he concluded.

The McConnon brothers have been around for a number of years and have somewhat of an interesting past. In 2006, a few months following the launch of Moviestar, the brothers were reported to film companies for breaching copyright by renting out retail DVDs, according to a report in the Sunday Business Post in 2006. The brothers are also directors of Promocom Ireland, which, following an investigation by the BBC's Inside Out programme in 2006, was accused by the Office of Fair Trading in Britain of running misleading prize promotions, while trading under a number of names.

The market for video-on-demand is expected to grow substantially in Ireland in the coming years. The McConnons predict the Irish online rental market will exceed 200,000 subscribers over the next five years resulting in a EUR 35 million per annum business here.

Movie Download vs Rental Shop

I like the guy who owns the movie rental shop in the village. He’s one of those blow-ins who probably never fell in love with the coast and countryside that incomers supposedly do, before exchanging their plush commuter belt lifestyle for an over priced damp ridden cow shed conversion. Or if he did fall in love with it, he’s got a funny way of showing it, because I’ve never seen him beyond the chair he seemingly forever sits in. Maybe I saw him in the chippy once, though it could have been his brother, or cousin.

I’m downloading a movie today on my Apple Mac, and it’s taking a little longer than anticipated, perhaps 5 minutes more. A slight annoyance maybe, but far less complicated than going to the rental shop. I still intend to though, if only for the pleasure and displeasure of having to engage with a man who spectacularly contradicts himself.

For the video shop man has taken it upon himself to give advice. Not just basic: ‘this is violent, this is romantic, this is comedy, type advice,’ but in-depth, complex and extremely critical advice.

Perhaps referring to what he does as advice is an understatement. It seems more like divine instruction. Yet his opinions and criticisms are frequently negative. He likes very little of what he sells, or at least what I choose!

Getting a video out from the village shop requires rather more sophistication than getting an HD movie download. On presentation of the video he will usually stare for a couple of seconds at the cover, shake his head and sigh. This activity usually prompts some kind of appeasement motion on my behalf.

‘So... it’s not any good then?’ I meekly ask. Silence follows, by a stare that says some or all of the following: ‘Do I really need to explain?; Are you stupid?; you know nothing, absolutely nothing; you are not worthy of watching movies; you are stupid.’

Still silence. So I ask: ‘Well what’s wrong with it then?’

Another stare. I look pleadingly. I suddenly realise that I am trying very hard to rent a movie and he’s trying very hard not to let me.

A large exhale. Then a volley of criticisms: script errors, poor direction, terrible photography, shaky plot, weak story, wooden acting. It goes on and on. He looks depressed. I run back to the shelf and point to another 'Super Troopers', he bows his head. I’m worried. I feel I’ve deeply offended this very kind man who I am destroying by choice of movie. I’m tempted to run out, go home, and just continue with my movie downloads in peace. But no, I could never go back, he’d curse me forever, and... I don’t know, it would just be awful.

Eventually I manage to choose a film that’s well, okay, if you must, I guess maybe. Not an endorsement, but he will let me rent it.

You know. One thing I’ve never asked him is: ‘So what do you recommend then?’ It’s my trump card. It’s better than movie downloads, it’s probably better than any movie I could rent, just to see what he says. He’d probably implode.