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Regal movie theaters to issue devices to tattle on troublemakers

As much as we love cellphones and movies around here, we usually remember to shut off our mobiles when we enter a movie theater. Apparently a lot of folks don't pick up on this common courtesy and regularly let their annoying ringtones go off right in the middle of the new blockbuster we just dropped a Hamilton to see in THX bliss. Regal Entertainment Group, the largest American movie theater company, is now issuing a small remote alerting device to "frequent customers" so they can rat on folks who are disrupting the show. About the size of a pager, the remote apparently comes with four buttons: one to alert managers about "a disruption in the audience," a second to point out faulty projection, a third to complain about the temperature, and a fourth for anything else. Apparently customers who get these special devices will receive a free bag of popcorn as payment for their "treachery" -- if you can call it that. We'd be the first to sign up in all reality since we've all but stopped going to movies because of the various annoyances and distraction. Oh, and you can't pause them or do an instant replay.

[Via Techdirt, thanks Steve]