First, the camcorder claims have themselves involved wildly different figures. For example, over the past two weeks, reports have pegged the Canadian percentage of global camcording at either 40 or 50%. Yet the International Intellectual Property Alliance, a U.S. lobby group that includes the MPAA, advised the US government in late September that Canadians were the source for 23% of camcorded copies of DVDs. Not surprisingly, none of these figures have been subject to independent audit or review. In fact, AT&T Labs, which conducted the last major public study on movie piracy in 2003, concluded that 77 percent of pirated movies actually originate from industry insiders and advance screener copies provided to movie reviewers.

"Three large balloons will float above the Pentagon on Saturday as the U.S. Defense Department tests its chemical and biological weapons defenses."