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With the internet allowing people to illegally download a bigger selection of movies, students at PCC and many other schools have cut down on their trips to movie theaters. Is this sort of thing really such a big deal? Viewpoints on the issue are conflicting.

According to a poll on “The Numbers” provided by the Motion Picture Association of America, ticket sales dropped from a recorded 1.32 billion in 2012 to 1.1 billion in 2013. This is the lowest amount of movie ticket sales since 1995, when 1.22 billion movie tickets were reportedly sold.

As of late, the MPAA wants to make advancements in their security to help stop even the most skilled movie thieves from recording videos in movie theaters.

“The MPAA recommends that theaters adopt a Zero Tolerance policy that prohibits the video or audio recording and the taking of photographs of any portion of a movie,” the MPAA stated.

Students vocal against movie piracy and its effects included Alex Duplessis, a broadcast journalism/communications major at PCC.

“Sharing and downloading copyrighted items is obviously illegal, but it’s doesn’t seem to be stopping anybody,” Duplessis said. “It’s not fair to the people who put in the work to produce the shows and movies, but it doesn’t seem like many people care. Is it a big deal? To those involved in the production of the media I think it is, but to seemingly everybody else it’s not.”

However, Duplessis isn’t a big fan of going out to the movie theaters. Outside of exceptions for the sound and visual experience at the theaters, he prefers to stay home for his movies.

“I prefer theaters for certain must-see movies,” Duplessis said. “Outside of that, I prefer watching movies on Netflix because of convenience and cost.”

Some students have a different take on the issue of viewing pirated movies, choosing to download movies instead of paying a steep price at the theaters or buying a DVD or Blu-ray copy of a movie once released. Andrew Karapanian, an economics major at PCC, does not find it as big of a deal as some people make it out to be.

“I personally don’t think it’s that big of a deal. In fact, the economic effect of pirating movies is very small,” said Karapanian. “Because those people who are going to pirate the movie have already made up in their mind whether or not they are going to purchase the movie. So when they pirate a movie it’s simply to see it for themselves and that’s it.”

Karapanian doesn’t find much of a problem with people viewing movies off of file hosting sites, but he would not copy movies to make a profit.

“I don’t pirate it and then sell it on the streets for money,” he said. “I think that’s a misunderstanding within the movie industry.”

Understandably, high ticket prices and concession items at movie theaters continue to be leading factors in keeping people at home to watch their movies. Some people find it ridiculous regarding how expensive a single trip to the movies can cost.

“I prefer to go to the movies if it’s a new movie that I really want to see,” said Karapanian. “Even then, I don’t like to spend $12 on a ticket. I’ll go see a movie in the morning when it’s like $6 or less, or I’ll use one of those free movie tickets we get when we donate blood. I haven’t paid full price for a movie in a long time.”

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