According to a recent post on Boing Boing, Dublin, California moviegoer Adrian McCarthy noticed a curious sign at the Hacienda Crossing Regal Cinema indicating what may be a disturbing new trend in the ongoing war against movie piracy. McCarthy claims that management posted a notice informing patrons purchasing tickets for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls that portions of the film had been intentionally silenced, and that the theater manager had no control over the situation. Eagle-eyed multiplex patrons have no doubt noticed the so-called “cap code” system of watermarking film prints (“cap code” consists of a series of red dots that appear in a frame at certain intervals) that has grown popular amongst the studios over the last few years, but could this be the next step in combating piracy?

A quick glance through the feedback revealed that professional projectionists are discussing this development over on the Film-Tech Forums, so short of an official confirmation from Paramount this seems to be legit.
 

Is this the mystery CAP?
 
As concession costs rise, common courtesy falls, and impressive home theater systems become increasingly affordable, could these questionable measures of fighting piracy be inadvertently alienating the very audience that is currently keeping the theater-going experience alive? On a personal note, I saw the film last Friday evening in Michigan and there were no audio dropouts at that particular screening. A screening of The Strangers a few days later, however, was troubling for an entirely different reason: without getting on a soap box, all I’ll say is that folks need to remember that they’re not in their living room when they go out to the flicks… and that The Strangers isn’t exactly the kind of movie that you should bring a toddler to see… and that if said toddler starts crying because they’re absolutely terrified you should probably just cut your losses and leave rather than trying to stifle their screams with your hand and giving them a glowing cell phone to play with.
 
I’m just sayin’.
 
Anyway, I digress… check out the original story about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Muted Skulls here, then read what the projectionists had to say about the matter in the Film Handler’s Forums here (the thread topic is “Audio CAP in Indy” - careful, it gets pretty techy in there!).