Earlier in the month I wrote a post on the possibility of trades on the box office. On Thursday a financial reform legislation that includes the ban on trading on box office returns has been approved by the U.S. Senate. Now all that’s needed is a signature from President Obama.

Overall it was a smart decision. It would have been easily abused to influence the film industry. It would have been counterproductive with a new focus on trading and less on producing a movie that’s worthwhile — suits screw with film projects enough as is. A film should flourish based on its own merits.