Man Fined $300,000 in Case of Movies Posted Online

A federal judge has imposed the maximum fine of $300,000 against a former member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who allegedly leaked "screener" copies of movies that were distributed on the Internet. Calling the offense "egregious conduct," U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson ordered Carmine Caridi to pay Warner Bros $150,000 each for providing copies of The Last Samurai and Mystic River to a second man, who then copied them and made them available for download over the Internet.