BitTorrent Facilitating Illegal File Swapping of Star Wars On Day of Opening

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Date: May 21, 2005 8:24:07 PM EDT
To: Dewayne-Net Technology List <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
Subject: [Dewayne-Net] BitTorrent Facilitating Illegal File Swapping  
of Star Wars On Day of Opening
Reply-To: dewayne () warpspeed com


[Note:  Here's my take on this.  There is a certain amount of spin  
going on here by the MPAA.  The copy of SW that appeared on the  
Darknet was an internal final working print.  Someone on the inside  
of Lucasfilm or affiliated with the company had to have stolen this  
copy in order for it to appear.  From that point on, the Darknet just  
became a very efficient distribution mechanism.  Folks were using  
other protocols besides BT to move the film around.  Tagging BT alone  
here by the MPAA is a bit disingenuous.  DLH]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                     May 19, 2005


BitTorrent Facilitating Illegal File Swapping of Star Wars On Day of  
Opening

Statement by MPAA President Dan Glickman

Washington, D.C. - - Responding to news reports today that BitTorrent  
is already facilitating the illegal file sharing of the final Star  
Wars episode,  Revenge of the Sith which opens in theaters today,  
Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) President and CEO  
Dan Glickman made the following statement:

“There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies  
for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing  
users with illegal copies of Revenge of the Sith.  The unfortunate  
fact is this type of theft happens on a regular basis on peer to peer  
networks all over the world.

“Fans have been lined up for days to see Revenge of the Sith.  To  
preserve the quality of movies for fans like these and so many  
others, we must stop these Internet thieves from illegally trading  
valuable copyrighted materials on-line.

“If piracy and those who profit from it are allowed to flourish, they  
will erode an engine of economic growth and job creation; undermine  
legitimate businesses that strive to unite technology and content in  
innovative and legal ways and limit quality and consumer choice.”

Glickman said that the average movie costs $98 million to make and  
market.   Less than one in ten movies re-coup their original  
investment from the domestic box office and six in ten never recoup  
their investment .  The average BitTorrent network has up to 2.5  
million users a day.  The movie industry is the only industry with a  
positive balance of trade in countries with which it does business.   
Copyrighted industries are responsible for an estimated $626 billion  
of the total gross domestic product.

“My message to illegal file swappers everywhere is plain and simple:   
You are stealing, it is wrong and you are not anonymous,” said  
Glickman.  “In short, you can click, but you can't hide.  There are  
lots of ways to legally download our products through companies like  
CinemaNow, Movielink, Ruckus and others.”

The Motion Picture Association is engaged in an all out effort to  
root out Internet movie thieves and make them pay the consequences of  
illegally downloading and swapping movies on-line.  It has hundreds  
of investigators looking into these kinds of cases worldwide and has  
already been successful in shutting down several BitTorrent type  
sites.  As part of its anti-piracy effort, the MPAA and its member  
companies have brought lawsuits against many Internet movie thieves  
across the United States and plan to continue such action.

About the MPAA:  The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.  
(MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion  
picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los  
Angeles and Washington, D.C. These members include: Buena Vista  
Pictures Distribution; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Paramount  
Pictures; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox  
Film Corporation; Universal Studios from Universal City Studios; and  
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.


# # #

MPAA Los Angeles
Kori Bernards
Anne Caliguiri
(818) 995-6600

MPAA Washington, DC
John Feehery
Gayle Osterberg
(202) 293-1966
Weblog at: <http://weblog.warpspeed.com>



-------------------------------------
You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org
To manage your subscription, go to
 http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip

Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/