Bloomberg unveils anti-piracy campaign

May 03, 2007 With top filmmakers, policemen, government officials and a Motion Picture Association of America rep by his side, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled a new anti-film piracy campaign featuring TV and theater public service announcements and bus shelter ads. Bloomberg also signed legislation upping illegal videotaping in movie theaters from a violation to a misdemeanor, with an increase in maximum jail time from 15 days to six months and fines upped from a $250 maximum to $5000, plus up to $5,000 in civil penalties. In what he described as a three-pronged approach to fight piracy, Bloomberg also announced that the New York Police Department has seized almost 200,000 pirated DVDs this year.

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