A Google Glass user was arrested and questioned by Department of Homeland Security officials for allegedly recording movies inside the Ohio theater.
A representative from the Motion Picture Association of America, which cooperates with movie theaters across the nation to fight against piracy, confirmed Tuesday that "no such activity was discovered" in the Google Glass incident.
According to the DHS' Immigration and Customs Enforcement department, officials of its Homeland Security Investigations interrogated the Google Glass user but released the man shortly after confirming that the recording technology, suspected of being used for piracy, doubled as a pair of prescription eye glasses. The device's recording function had been rendered inactive as well.
The unnamed Google Glass user entered the AMC theater in Easton Mall, Columbus Saturday to see a movie with his partner. “Because I don’t want Glass to distract me during the movie, I turn them off (but since my prescription lenses are on the frame, I still wear them),” he explained in an interview with Gadgeteer magazine.
DHS agents interrogated the man but released after they made sure he was not recording the movie using his Google Glass, an insider source said.
“Google Glass is an incredible innovation in the mobile sphere, and we have seen no proof that it is currently a significant threat that could result in content theft,” the MPAA representative said in an email.
There has been several cases of Google Glass users being detained and questioned by law enforcers. Earlier this month, a Southern California court dismissed a traffic ticket issued to a woman who was sporting Google Glass while driving. The woman was initially stopped and handed a speeding ticket but received a second one after police saw she was wearing the device.
