The LA Critics Association has canceled their awards this year.

From Henry Sheehan via Roger L. Simon via Glenn Reynolds:
] The cause was the Motion Picture Association of
] America's decision to ban screeners (video and DVD
] editions of the year's film releases) from
] distribution to voters in the Motion Picture Academy and
] the various critics organizations which award annual
] prizes.

] The L.A. critics don’t like being manipulated into a corner
] by this policy. Of course it would be best to see every
] movie on the big screen. But in the years since screeners
] have become common, the number of films released per
] year has increased by 33%. You just can’t see everything.
] Moreover, as the year draws to an end, critics like to go
] over films from earlier in the year for second or even third
] viewings, especially when considering categories such as
] best score, production design, and certainly the two
] supporting actor slots.

And it appears they are drawing some lines in the sand also..

] The cancellation is contingent on the MPAA’s rescinding the
] screener policy. If it goes, the cancellation goes. But the
] crucial word is “rescind.” Not alter or modify. Rescind.

And why are they doing this you ask? Simple. Its been well proven that the source of most pirated movie copies floating around the net are these screeners.

This is going to be interesting to watch develop.