Legislation proposed to ban box-office futures

Legislation proposed to ban box-office futures
April 16, 2010 | 4:26 pm

The major movie studios may have lost their first battle over box-office futures trading, but they unveiled a powerful new weapon in response.

Financial reform legislation unveiled Friday by Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., contains a provision that would ban futures trading based on box-office receipts.

Lincoln is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee, which has jurisdiction over futures markets.

The Motion Picture Assn. of America, joined by the National Association of Theatre Owners, the Directors Guild of America and the Independent Film and Television Alliance, issued a press release today trumpeting the provision and their support of the legislation. It was sent less than two hours after the Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved the creation of a market, from a company called Media Derivatives, intended for entertainment-related futures.

“As Congress moves forward with financial regulatory reform, we are very grateful to Chairman Lincoln for seeking to put a stop to plans to allow wagering on box-office futures, which are based on a faulty understanding of the film business and could cause real financial harm to both the film industry and other Americans drawn in by an online gaming platform that could be easily manipulated,” the groups said in a statement.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/entertainmentnewsbuzz/2010/04/legislation-proposed-to-ban-box-office-futures.html

WTF?

market will demand complete transparency and honesty of the box-office receipts reporting process and
won't just rely on Hollywood's so-called "data" for settling their trades.

of time.

:mad: