Hollywood's Hitting Back

 At a private screening of a new movie at west Hollywood, Los Angeles, I, along with the rest of the audience, was frisked by armed security people at the entrance.

 Everyone, including the celebrities, had to pass through a metal detector and hand over their cell phones.

 No, these precautions had not been prompted by anti-terrorism concerns or the visit of a VIP. The trigger here was the clear and present danger of digital piracy.

 Once the film started the aisles were patrolled by Hollywood security enforcers wearing night vision goggles and searching for hidden video cameras.

 The theatre was also secured by private detectives who held the film print and stood by in the projection room from start to finish, with specially trained attack dogs.

 In the near future, higher security screening at a film show may become a norm, just like buying popcorn is today.

 New computer technology that allows pirated movies to be quickly compressed and transmitted is at the centre of a war that