Israeli MP Plans Passing a New Popcorn Law 51
Israeli lawmaker Carmel Shama is taking on the tough issue of overpriced popcorn at the movies. "We have to put an end to this. The public should not have to mortgage their houses for a soft drink and a snack," Shama said. He plans to bring his "popcorn law," which would put limits on what public entertainment venues could charge, up for a vote when the parliament returns from Passover break next week. I'm sure Israelis are glad that they have no other issues that need to be addressed right now.
Right (Score:3, Insightful)
Because the Israeli gov't can work on exactly ONE problem at a time. Science can only work on curing cancer and nothing else.
*sigh*
Frack you, subby.
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i read the post, i know what he meant.
i have bigger problems than what to have for lunch, that doesn't mean i should go hungry until i've paid off my student loans. In fact, i *can't* work on that problem all the time.
People can work on more than one problem at a time. Gov'ts can work on more than one problem at a time through the magic of division of labor. Science can multitask as well. As cool as cold fusion would be not all scientists WANT to work on that, some can't, and sometimes people want other
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Making you pay exhorbitant fees for snacks at the movies is a form of bundling.
It's perfectly reasonable to regulate that. But putting a price-cap on it is short-sighted, as prices should be allowed to change over time, and no law specifying the price can adequately ensure that it's done fairly.
The right thing to do would be to pass a law guaranteeing the rights of street vendors to sell popcorn out front fo the theather and the rights of patrons to bring their own food into the theater.
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"Don't buy any fucking popcorn".
Damn it, if I see popcorn fucking you'll bet I'll be buying it. To hell with the cost, fucking popcorn is what I want to see!
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That was one of the premises of hitler's 'Mein Kampf'. Govt. should focus on one clearly defined set of goals, and then move onto the next. If you throw too many things at public at one time, the masses will get confused and not know what to do. 8-)
In the U.S, President Obama's case, he is trying to set up a system where nobody has to worry about getting sick and possibly dieing ever, and in Israel they are tackling to popcorn crisis.
hmmm (Score:1, Insightful)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_gouging
Did you *read* the wikipedia article to which you linked? Expensive popcorn is not price gouging. Price gouging is when, for example, you raise the price of your bread from $2 per loaf to $20 per loaf after a hurricane. If your bread was always $20 per loaf it's not price gouging. Also, price gouging typically only applies to 'essentials' like food, fuel etc. A big tub o' popcorn and a liter of pepsi is hardly an essential.
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This should work well.. (Score:3, Insightful)
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hmmm. (Score:2)
that's the kind of communism the US should be turning it's back on. next: access to affordable, high-quality popcorn for all people will be a "human right".
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Already done. [ewg.org]
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Yeah, man, think of the KERNELS.
What keeps me going to the movies... (Score:1)
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Next stage: ticket sales decline, so theatres attempt to attract customers by making special offers, such as "free popcorn with every ticket!"
And the only thing that changes is that people who say videogames aren't too expensive wind up making less-roundabout arguments.
Blame it on the terrorists! (Score:3, Funny)
I'm with Andrew Tanenbaum. . . (Score:2, Funny)
. . . microkernel is the way to go!
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Problem with broken competition (Score:2)
This is what happens when you allow service and goods providers to dictate the usage and buying of customers. Theaters don't allow you to take in anything other than food and drinks bought from them.
There aren't that many theaters around that you could say it's the consumers choice.
They should just make it illegal for theaters to stop people eating their own food and the problem would be solved.
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This is what happens when you allow service and goods providers to dictate the usage and buying of customers. Theaters don't allow you to take in anything other than food and drinks bought from them. There aren't that many theaters around that you could say it's the consumers choice. They should just make it illegal for theaters to stop people eating their own food and the problem would be solved.
BAH. I want the overpriced food and drinks. If they take those away, other things will get more expensive. If someone wants to have popcorn and a soda, let them. They won't starve without them. I'd support a law forbidding theaters from not allowing water to be brought in though. The overpriced goods allow ticket prices to remain relatively low.
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As long as I can't see into the finances of large multiplex cinemas I'm going to call bullshit.
It certainly contradicts observations.
Despite the expensive beverages, ticket prices are far from low. They're absolutely horrendous. I know of places where within the last five years multiplex cinemas have driven smaller theaters out of business and the ticket prices have since doubled.
They say they need the drinks to stay in business, but if they can't make a profit on their main product, which is showing movies
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That's pretty much accurate, with the additional caveat that the theatre has to bring in enough money from ticket sales that the studio will rent them the movie. Some studios have a "low grossing cutoff"; theatres whose gross is below the cutoff can't get the movie until X weeks after its national release date.
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Would you go to a restaurant and bring your own sandwich?
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When I go to a restaurant I pay for a meal. If I don't I'm taking up space. They'll throw me out even if I don't take anything along. When I go to the cinema I go there to watch a movie and have already payed for an expensive ticket.
Should a hotel confiscate your phone on the grounds that you're less likely to use the pricey hotel phone and WiFi services?
Should airlines confiscate iPods and the like because they want to force you to pay for in-flight entertainment?
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What are the movie theaters confiscating?
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That's one way of looking at it, but the reason we have consumer protection laws is because without them we would be exposed to a lot more of this kind of anti-competitive behavior.
It's easy to simply say you could go elsewhere but particularly for cinema that is just not an option for most people.
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What are the movie theaters confiscating?
Outside food/drinks, cameras, notebooks etc.
Efficient price discrimination, better for goers (Score:1, Insightful)
Overpriced drinks and food is actually better for consumers from an "equality" perspective.
This is because, if the drinks and food weren't overpriced, everyone could buy them, but cinema tickets would have to be higher to compensate.
At the moment, people with less money can still go to see movies very comfortably so long as they just drink and eat a bit before the film. That's not a very large burden. It's also efficient from the perspective of cinemas - because with a fixed amount of seats (and a theatre t
Idiot (Score:2)
No one is forced to buy pop-corn at cinemas. In fact, there's no rule that says you have to eat while watching a movie. Let them charge what they want. Separating fools from their money is a holy duty.