Ernie Miller is taking an idea from Mary Hodder at the Berkeley intellectual property weblog and running with it. The idea?

"The Piracy Meter: if I pirated movies, this is how I'd rate them, as to what's worth clogging my dsl connection
for 24-36 hours to get one."

Prof Miller's expansion:

"he details of the meter aren't quite clear, but might I suggest the following rankings (from worst to best)?:

CAM - Who cares if the movie was recorded in a cinema with a consumer-quality camcorder and/or where the audience can
be seen or heard? The movie is simply not worth the effort of getting a quality copy. Download only when desparate.

Telesync - Better than CAM, still recorded in a cinema, but usually with professional-level equipment and a separate audio
source (so the audience cannot be heard). Getting better, but download only if you're not going to be using your broadband for
a day or so, like during a weekend trip.

Screener - Generally recorded from promotional videotapes or DVDs which have been sent to film critics, marketing firms,
Academy voters, etc. This ranking has been discontinued until further notice upon request of the MPAA.

LD/DVD Rip - Accomplished simply by copying a LaserDisc or DVD. Picture and audio quality are generally very good.
Good movie and definitely worth renting on DVD, but who wants to make the trip to the local Blockbuster? Go ahead and
download, unless you're too busy grabbing MP3s.

Telecine - A high quality copy taken directly from the film reel. Popular with professional pirating operations. Great movie - go
ahead and download even if it makes surfing unbearably slow and then burn to DVD-R."