Tim League, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, decided to ban Google Glass inside movie theaters due to piracy concerns.
Movie goers wearing Google Glass must take off the devices once the lights have been dimmed and the movie starts. The privacy concerns surrounding the issue of wearing Google Glass inside cinemas spiked when, earlier this year, a man from Ohio was interrogated for wearing his Google Glass inside an AMC theater during a screening of "Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit."
Google Glass has a built-in video capability, and the theater industry worried that this feature might be used for piracy. AMC was the first theater to ban Google Glass wearers inside their cinemas after the incident in Ohio.
As to the Alamo case, League clarified that enforcement of the new rule would be done on a case-to-case basis. He also added that they could make some exemptions, especially to those people who use Google Glass as their primary eyewear.
"It will be case by case, but if it is clear when they are on, clear when they are off, will likely be OK," he tweeted, as reported by Deadline.
League also narrated to Deadline about the demonstrations that Google Glass did in some cinemas in Alamo. He said that he attended these demos, and he thought that the gadget did present some privacy problems, especially in a setting as enclosed as a cinema. He clarified that he did not enforce the rule until he saw some movie goers wearing their Google Glass inside the movies.
The CEO further explained that although he knew that this technology is becoming a trend today and may one day soon replace glasses entirely, he maintained that banning its usage inside the cinemas was the best course of action to take at the moment.
