Singapore is to become a digital shipping port for movies and aims to be the first to implement a worldwide digital distribution network. It is working on a transmission system that will allow studios in the US to deliver movies as files through Singapore into the rest of Asia. In a series of pilot tests conducted earlier in 2005, three movie trailers were transmitted from Los Angeles in the US to cinemas in Singapore via a high-speed broadband connection. The plan is not only to establish a system that will allow new movies to be instantly released everywhere, but also to “localise” them with appropriate subtitles before sending them on to other cinemas in Asia. With more than 16 gigabits per second of direct internet connectivity to more than 20 countries, Singapore intends to position itself as a regional digital distribution hub. It is harder to pirate digitally encrypted movies compared with existing analog movie prints. In addition, the same distribution system can be used to update films, for example inserting product placement advertisements, or even to broadcast concerts and events like the Academy Awards live onto digital cinema screens. The trials showed that a cross-continental digital transmission system is feasible. Mike Connors, former senior vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America, believes that the results will help the film industry to develop a worldwide digital distribution system. The digital cinema industry is booming, with 243 digital cinema screens worldwide and 111 in Asia alone. China plans to have 2500 digital cinemas by 2009. Singapore’s digital transmission system is now undergoing the next phase of testing. Meanwhile, the government hopes to get a Hollywood studio to distribute a commercial film on the pilot network. [New Scientist]