On Premieres' Heels, Movie Pirates Debut

"Modern technology has made this ubiquitous," said Dan Glickman, president and chief executive of the Motion Picture Association of America. "It is just easier and easier to steal the content of music, films and television."

Much of that thievery takes place in New York, a hotbed for pirates who raid movie theaters. Known in the industry as "cammers," they slip into a theater -- sometimes as part of a team -- and pull out a digital camcorder and start recording, authorities said. Later, using a home computer, the pirate or an associate will create several master discs of the film and sell them to dealers for about $150 each.

The dealers then make thousands of copies of the film, using DVD duplication devices known as "burners." Then they sell the discs for about $3 to street peddlers, who often sell them for about $10 each.

Timing can be everything.

"Big-event films like 'Harry Potter' are very sought after by movie pirates because they are much anticipated and provide the opportunity for making a quick buck," said Gayle Osterberg, an MPAA spokeswoman.

The bootlegging operations are far more nimble and efficient than a decade ago, when mini-factories were required for mass production. Today, a few hundred dollars buys a decent digital camera and several thousand dollars buys enough burners to churn out thousands of discs a month -- all fitting easily in an apartment living room.

Although the quality of the bootlegged DVDs is generally poor, sometimes grainy or choppy, experts said that the thieves are using better camcorders and even buying devices that allow them to tap into the theater's digital sound -- eliminating coughs, laughter and the crinkling of candy wrappers from their recordings.

The packaging of pirated movies is also sharper. With laser printers and a digital camera to snap a photograph of a movie's poster, they can create slick DVD packaging. If they have time, some pirates are even adding extra feature tracks to their products.

The MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America have hired private investigators to comb the streets in search of peddlers. They share leads with the police and FBI. The investigation of the warehouse, for example, was aided by industry investigators.

This month's raid marked the second time this year that the warehouse was targeted. D.C. police raided it April 20 and seized more than 24,000 pirated DVDs, calling it one of the biggest hauls in the city's history.

Yuan and Chen were arrested in that raid, but charges were dropped about a month later. Law enforcement officials said they wanted to build a stronger case -- this time with the help of the FBI. Within weeks, D.C. police and federal agents were making undercover purchases at the warehouse, authorities said.

It didn't take long for the broader case to emerge. The first undercover purchase, in June, took place in the liquor store's parking lot, according to a court affidavit. The other three were made in October. The undercover deals totaled about $1,000 for more than 300 movies.

The final purchases covered numerous box-office draws, including "Domino" and "Two for the Money," both of which had just arrived in theaters the week before.

"They allegedly turned right around and continued the operations pretty brazenly," said Kenneth L. Wainstein, the U.S. attorney for the District. "The fact that after getting arrested, they turned around and persisted, even with law enforcement looking at them, it suggests they were sorely tempted by the profits that are available."

Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.