“What is happening is that the films get recorded at theatres (often in Russia or the Middle East) and then get uploaded to upload services like megaupload (which recently got shutdown by the feds).”
Not only that: it’s available on the torrents. I can’t stand Cam versions but there were exceptions.
I had a cam version of Transformers and the uploader got blasted in the forums for not labeling it correctly as CAM. What the majority of the commenters did say was that the uploader fixed and muxed the audio and video that it “passed” the Cam title. I never even knew it was a Cam until a couple of heads right at the bottom of the screen stood up after the movie.
There’s a mom/pop grocery on the EBT card side of the tracks in my town where if you know the right person you can buy a bootleg DVD of a first run movie for $5 within a week of it coming out.