Concerning, but totally expected. Americans just need to control the Internet like the Chinese and Russians do.
The quicker the American people realize that they have not lived with the freedoms they were convinced they had, the better it'll be to swallow this bill as well.
The US government should not be dictating to private business what they can and cannot do. Let the marketplace decide what businesses can and cannot do based on their buying power.
ISPs now finally have the weapons they wanted to easily block anything they feel like, or what they are told to block, whether these are Android TV boxes, or VPNs, or torrent sites, or Russian media resources with Al Jazeera. It is a win win for both ISPs and the government agencies. Frankly, ISPs didn't even have to lobby it through.
In the UK cinemas pay a percentage of box office tickets to the film distributors and if you have a first run film this can be 95% of box office.
That sounds a bit too steep. What source are you referencing on this percentage? I've had some experience in film production and the standard in North America averages 50% of box office on behalf of big screen owners. Of course by the time you get, you are diluted a few times by studios, production companies and other distributors.
The bad news is that filmmakers do not have the muscle or the money to get the mass reach thousands of screens represent.
The good news is that the Internet is trying to level up the playing field. However, even if you were to sell to Netflix or Amazon, their cut is still very large.
But I do agree. Going to movies nowadays have become too pricey, and considering the quality of movies have gone downhill, I don't see how it is fair to pay more for same or worse quality of films.