Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the House of Representatives to the amendments proposed by the Senate in H.B. No. 164, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, entitled:

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to prohibit movie piracy by creating a new misdemeanor offense of unauthorized operation of a recording device in a motion picture theater.

Your Committee on Conference finds that movie piracy through unauthorized audiovisual recordings made in movie theaters has resulted in losses to the motion picture industry, including actors, producers, and distributors of motion pictures. The illicitly copied movies are illegally duplicated, packaged, and distributed across the country and abroad, further aggravating industry losses.

Your Committee on Conference notes that retail merchants are afforded protection from civil liability for detaining suspected shoplifters while awaiting the arrival of law enforcement officers. It is your Committee's intent to extend the same protections to movie theater operators and their agents.

However, concerns were raised that the immunity language in the Senate draft was too broad. Accordingly, your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by providing movie theater operators the same immunity afforded to retail merchants when detaining a person suspected of stealing from the establishment.

Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 164, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 164, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, C.D. 1.