[kingu]

At 5:45 PST, the first copy of the movie appeared on the Internet. Where did this copy come from? It was purchased on the street from a vendor who was selling copies on a college campus. That same workprint apparently was for sale in at least nine cities, and apparently sold to those waiting in line at noon in Milwaukee.

I'm so glad the MPAA and the RIAA are going after private sharing of television and music - and ignoring these street sales. The video was a workprint, and it will likely be available from street vendors across the world by the time you read these words. Particularly painful for Lucasfilms in nations where the film isn't scheduled to be shown for some time yet.

Yes, there are number counters on the screen, so it is flawed, but this theft will likely result in at least a multimillion loss in ticket sales, and perhaps as much as a hundred million when world wide theater ticket sales are counted.

Whoops.

[BenLurkin]

Interesting. What is a "work print" and what are "number counters"?

For years I have seen illegals selling DVDs of current releases on the street in downtown L.A. -- always figured it was stolen, or a crappy copy or blank and never bought one.