Film Piracy

My developing Thoughts...

2005-11-16T19:58:00.000-08:00

I personally feel that part of the problem is the media coverage and these campaigns itself. Personally, I do not think that they are deterring illegal downloading. To be honest, I think that these campaigns are bringing downloading to the attention of those who are unfamiliar with it.

Moreover, I cannot honestly believe that shutting down websites will stop piracy. One thing that any solution overlooks is human ingenuity. If there is a need for fast, easy file-sharing, then pirates will find a way to bring it to the people. You can close down a P2P program or torrent site, only to find hundreds more turning up. I also believe that these hackers are of a younger, smarter breed. By population alone, they outnumber the total brainpower at the MPAA. Thus, for any anti-piracy mechanism that are set in place, there will be thousands more hackers seeking a “solution” to work around the problem. Managing director of Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment, Marek Antoniak explained, “every big blockbuster will be pirated - pirates know that's where the money is…It's very easy to find pirated product - even though we're fighting as hard as we can. It will be a campaign over time and we've got to start somewhere.” (source) He could not have said it better! Campaign after campaign and trial and error over time may help to reduce the problem. I cannot imagine the problem ever completely subsiding. As with any new technology, comes both the legal and illegal implications.

In fact, contrary to popular belief, I believe that the downloaders are some of the film industry’s best customers. The very fact that these people are downloading movies means that they enjoy watching them. More often than not, if a movie is good enough, people will go watch it in the theatres, instead of downloading them. If they really enjoy the movie, they will surely buy the full DVD to add to their collection once it is made available. Thus, it may be that the downward spiral of this summer’s movies that are deterring moviegoers. Now there is something to consider for the MPAA.

A popular solution is to give the people what they want! Make these movies available legally. This culture of at-home movie watchers is making it very clear what their demands are. Instead of trying to change them, meet them! Of course a fee can be attached to this, but who wouldn’t be willing to view a hot new release, without worrying about quality or anything else for a few dollars. If this were made available online, by means of a video-on-demand service, many may simply go for it because of the ease and guarantee of watching a great movie. Some services do exist, but they need some work, and publicity!

Well, happy downloading and happy anti-downloading to whoever you may be. I for one am staying out of this!

Problems and Possible Solutions

2005-11-15T17:31:00.000-08:00

Well, if you have read previous posts, or know anything about the piracy community, some of the key problems are by now, obvious.

Distribution process

Beginning with the distribution process, film producers and distributors are affected by simultaneous downloading of their movies. Take the following example. The film the Passion of the Christ was actually reportedly leaked and selling on the streets for 95cents a month before its release in Peru (source). Oddly enough, the Passion of the Christ is expected to finish its gross sales at $853,950,000(source). This makes the film the 10th largest grossing movie (unadjusted for inflation) of all time (source)! Now, did the month of piracy in Peru really affect overall sales? Who knows! The truth is, with an average monthly wage of $250 for a police officer or a teacher in Peru, how can they afford legitimate copied of movies? Maybe the problem is not so crucial after all. In fact despite the MPAA complaining about losing billions a year, 3.5 to be exact, last year, the worldwide revenue from tickets, videos and DVDs reached $44.8 billion. Ironically this was an increase of nearly the similar $3.5 billion that the MPAA claimed to have lost. Now, I do not deny that piracy certainly has eaten away at MPAA’s revenues. This is certainly true, but I only wonder to what extent, especially since the industry has been booming (source).

Piracy Is Just Too Easy

As illustrated in previous postings, downloading movies these days is as easy as searching for “File Share” in Google, or even better still, typing “p2p.” Any amateur can find all of the answers he or she needs. USV, a company that sells technologies and hardware to identify piracy, explains that there are three types of pirates: ordinary internet users, amateurs, and professionals. So to explain, the professionals are the ones who pirate and know exactly what they are doing. These are often experienced hackers and programmers, who may even distribute these video releases. Thus, it is made available for amateurs – those who see video piracy as a hobby and know enough to dedicate some leisure time to downloading. Ordinary internet users are those who believe that if it is on the internet, others must be downloading it, so it must be free and legal to all. This is how the problem becomes widespread (source).

A solution to such a scenario would be a legislative one. With the MPAA being the key player in bringing piracy to the attention of authorities, they are putting pressure on all of those who supply avenues to, or support illegal downloading (see Online Gateways). In fact, it is not only the P2P companies that are getting attacked. The MPAA announced more than 200 lawsuits against internet users. Click here to listen to the full report. Additionally, reports indicate that the Chan Nai-ming, a Hong Kong man known as “Big Crook” has been sent to prison for illegally sharing Hollywood movies through BitTorrent. He is the first person in the world to be prosecuted for exchanging files in this manner. While this case was highly publicized, there has not been a noticeable decline on the number of files being shared on the internet (source).

Insiders Leaking Movie Releases

A shocking number of movie releases have been released by insiders – those persons in the film industry who have access to films prior to release. According to US research, most pirate copies of today’s blockbusters are a result of such leaks by industry insiders. In fact, the instance of this is more common than home or cinema copying (source). A study conducted has concluded that 75% of films uploaded during a sample time-frame, were done so during production or distribution. Some were even on the web prior to being released in cinemas!
Of course the solution, in this case, would be to stop these instances at the source. Instead of going after P2P file sharing programs (which by the way have legal purposes as well), the true criminals who leak these films should be investigated and prosecuted. After all, would you just leave your $100 million secret for others to find? These movies should be treated as carefully as they are to produce! Not to place blame, but sometimes common sense is necessary.

More Solutions

There are groups who are trying more passively, by means of advertising campaigns to create an awareness of the problem. Piracy is a Crime is one such group. They have been operating an ongoing £1.5m Piracy is a Crime campaign. With graphic images and slogans, there is hope that these will be effective in reducing piracy as a whole. One of the most profound statements reads: “Terrorist groups sell pirate DVDs to raise funds.” In the post-911 world we live in, this is hard not to catch your eye. The claim is that if you download or buy pirated DVDs you are indirectly supporting terrorists (source).

The only problem here is that this sort of “shock” advertising loses its effectiveness as we grow accustomed to it. Just think of the cigarette ads and warning labels, on cartons. Cigarettes kill, cigarettes cause premature death, cigarettes cause lung cancer….etc. Are people even reading these anymore? If people aren’t afraid of their own death, then what is a little jail-time for piracy, right? Nonetheless, good effort to the people running the campaign, let’s just see if it works.

Online Gateways

2005-11-14T22:44:00.000-08:00

To get an idea of how easy it may be to download the latest movie, or video of your choice just type in “File Share” into Google. You will likely recognise the names of some of these programs. I have compiled my own list:

Morpheus 140,984,175
iMesh 107,024,200
LimeWire 69,732,976
BitCOmet 11,031,157
eMule 4,648,046
Bit Torrent 2,359,918
NeoNapster 1,250,862
Azureus 871,587
Kazaa --------
BearShare --------

The numbers listed beside these file sharing programs are the number of total downloads that I gathered from the website: http://www.download.com/. Each of these sites are arch enemies of the MPAA. Simple arithmetic shows that these top ten file sharing programs have a cumulative download history of 338 Million! This only includes downloads from one central website, and does not include Kazaa or Bearshare (unavailable totals). It is a %100 certainty that there are copyrighted materials that can be made accessible through these programs. These file sharing programs run on a peer-to-peer (P2P) basis. That is to say, instead of having a few client servers where all of the information is stored, this system works in a way that bandwidth is used from individual users as they share their files with the files of all other users.

However, in June of 2005, the supreme court of justice ruled that it was possible for entertainment companies to raise piracy lawsuits against any technology company that can be identified as “encouraging customers to steal music and films over the internet.” (BBC News) Now, nearly four months later, Grokster which until a few days ago was one of the biggest players in the P2P game, was forced out of a winning seat. After years of work, and months of litigation, Grokster gave up the fight against MPAA (specifically MGM). All that is left of the once flourishing P2P software website, http://www.grokster.com/ is the following message:

“The United States Supreme Court unanimously confirmedthat using this service to trade copyrighted material is illegal.Copying copyrighted motion picture and music filesusing unauthorized peer-to-peer services is illegal and isprosecuted by copyright owners.

There are legal services for downloading music and movies.This service is not one of them.

Grokster hopes to have a safe and legal service available soon.”

Below this are two links to http://www.respectcopyrights.com/ and http://www.musicunited.org/. In addition, Grokster was ordered to pay $50 million in damages. This is definitely a big win for the MPAA. All of the other P2P companies listed are sure to be concerned now. One thing that cannot be changed however are the millions of users who already have Grokster installed. The nature of P2P is that once you download a program, you no longer need to connect to “websites,” you simply connect to other users. Therein lies Grokster’s legacy. The MPAA’s stance is simple: go after all of the big P2P networks, and slowly eliminate the agents for illegal downloading.

Personally, I agree. Yes, this is a step in the right direction for MPAA, but there is a long, long road ahead. I am willing to bet that with the closure of Grokster has come the development of at least ten similar programs. Moreover, what seems to be the most dangerous thing of all today, are BitTorrent networks.

In 2001, a young programmer from San Francisco named Bram Cohen developed BitTorrent. Bram is currently living making a living primarily from donations from his supporters! (Source) BitTorrent is in fact a P2P sharing system, however the major difference between BitTorrent and any other P2P program is that this allows users to download simultaneously from various sources. This can mean faster download times (up to 1500Kbs) There is no search engine within BitTorrent programs themselves. In fact, the only way to receive files is to download a small data file which points to where the file is located for you to download. This system enforces sharing, for users are expected to keep an upload-download ratio of 1:1. This is an even harder system to stop because every user is both a supplier and a downloader of your files. Lastly, the BitTorrent code is open-source and advertising-free, which means that nobody benefits financially from the software (source). In order to search these data files (called torrents), there are popular search engines available. They are as follows:

The Pirate Bay (This site is out of Europe, and has managed to evade RIAA and MPAA prosecution to date. The user following is also growing quickly as people discover this tremendous database. Special thanks to our About readers for this URL!)
Isohunt.com (Also a free torrent site, this Canadian database is fighting off the threat of an MPAA law suit. The site owner is a true libertarian, and is mounting a compelling defence against the MPAA. Read the details at the Isohunt home page. This is an outstanding torrent database, and P2P users are cheering for its continued success and operations.)
Torrentspy.com (Currently a free torrent site, Torrentspy is also an outstanding site for overall size, speed, and user-friendliness. Alas, there are fears that Torrentspy.com will be shut down in the near while.)
MiniNova.org (Also a no-fee torrent site, MiniNova is still young. But it is a clean and reliable interface with fast access and searching. With time, the membership and database here will grow.)
Bi-Torrent.com (Also known as “VIP Torrents”, Bi-Torrent.com is a free Torrent site with a spartan look and fast searching format.)

The above list was obtained from http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/peersharing/f/torrentsearch.htm

When I read the name, MiniNova.org, I thought it sounded familiar. After some of my own research, I looked it up. I had remembered a BitTorrent website had shut down last year. Now I realise that I was thinking of http://www.suprnova.org/. Then, this was the largest BitTorrent site. You could go there and download full movies, TV shows, music, and plenty more. Oddly enough other sites were getting shut down around the same time by force, and Suprnova simply withdrew on its own accord. You can view the full story here. However, it is the nature of these torrent sites to come and go. Today the fourth best torrent site (listed above) being MiniNova.org seems like a second generation Suprnova. Of course, the name does not seem to be only a coincidence!

What is Piracy?

2005-11-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

It is always important to understand what piracy is, exactly, before taking a stance on the subject. The following are the two main types of piracy that are threatening the industry today:

1) Optical Disc Piracy & Other Hard Goods– Laser Discs, VCDs, DVDs, and VHS

This type of piracy will often lead to bootlegging the DVD’s and VHS tapes on city streets. There is some cause for concern because when dealing with DVDs particularly, the quality is comparable to the original. Why then would you buy the same DVD in a store, when you can receive comparable quality from a bootleg?
These are referred to as hard goods since they are tangible items that can be physically distributed.

2) Internet Piracy – Growing type of piracy, which includes downloadable media, hard goods and streaming media,

This is the quickest growing type of piracy. With downloadable media becoming far more popular today than ever before, file sharing programs are becoming gateways for free downloading. Other avenues include chat rooms, ftp sites, websites.
Streaming media involves viewing movies in real-time, as it downloads, rather than downloading an entire film.
(source)

Above explains what sorts of media is used to facilitate privacy. Now here is a list of how videos are pirated:

1) Video Cassette – These are generally full scale laboratories that are setup to create and duplicate videos in bulk.
2) Camcording – Refers to the actual filming of a feature film using a camcorder in a movie theatre. This will usually be done at an isolated movie theatre at an off-peak time.
3) Screeners – Illegal copies of videos are duplicated after a legitimate copy is leaked out by insiders. These legitimate copies are in circulation prior to the theatrical release date and are intended for screening and marketing purposes
4) Theatrical Reel Theft – Simply stated, this is when an individual steals the film reel itself from a theatre and converts the copy to a distributable format
5) Signal Theft – Involves illegally hacking into a digital signal such as a television broadcast and recording the stream (source)

While there certainly are other creative methods of obtaining videos, the aforementioned are the most common. The individuals who are involved in these methods or the suppliers of these illegal copies are the ones that are beginning to be heavily sought after. Members of the MPAA hope that in doing so, an example can be made and a warning sent out to any other potential offenders.

Personally I could almost compare these pirate offenders with drug dealers. That is a pretty profound statement, I know. The reason I say this, is not to say that I feel illegal movies are like drugs, or that they are anywhere near as dangerous. Instead, in a sense, both pirated movies and drugs are illegal and they both have suppliers and consumers. Moreover, in both cases, the suppliers are the targets, while the consumers are generally unidentifiable. Finally, and above all, both of these issues are nearly impossible to solve. That is to say, once the consumers accept either drugs or downloading movies as a part of their lifestyle, they will unlikely be willing to change their habits without careful consideration.

“I am the Law” – MPAA ...er I mean Sylvester Stallone in Judge Dread

2005-11-04T19:05:00.000-08:00

In 2000, the MPA (international association) conducted over 60,000 investigations into suspected pirate activities and 18,000 raids against pirate activities (source). As mentioned in a previous entry, today’s big ticket movies cost an average of $80 to $100 million dollars. This cost is made up of approximately 67% production costs and a remaining 33% for marketing. The best chance that MPAA has of recovering and even surpassing these costs through revenue is to follow their tried and true process. That is the sequential order of their process: advertising a film, showcasing the film to critics for review and further advertising, releasing the film in theatres, then for home video, and finally to other media such as television. MPAA argues that piracy disrupts this process by redirecting sales during these “hot” times. For example, I recall reading that 95% of blockbusters are bootlegged before the video makes its home-video release. The real question then, is what mechanisms can be used to prosecute these bootleggers?

The law has very powerful tools which can be utilized against pirates. The US has some of the most carefully drawn out copyright laws with few loopholes. In 1982, the US increased penalties for illegal duplication of copyright materials. Even in Canada, copyright laws hold that one may not replicate, sell, distribute or modify any materials without the creator’s permission (source). Whether through copyright laws or not, the question of if the laws of theft can apply to video-piracy is a tricky one. In the past there have been successful cases in other copyright matters in which defendants have been charged with theft. However regardless of which rules, one is prosecuted under, the most important thing is finding those who are responsible.

The Debate

2005-10-28T21:50:00.000-07:00

There are two clear sides to this debate: the position of the movie producers and distributors, and that of the downloaders. We can say that the stance of the producers and distributors on this issue can be represented by the views of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). The MPAA serves as the voice of the American motion picture, home video and television industry. On its board of directors are the chairmen and presidents of seven major producers and distributors: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution;(The Walt Disney Company)Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLLP; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. This group directly benefits from the sale of movies. Accordingly, its members are against downloading of any of their copyrighted film material.
Having said that, what about the leechers? These are the individuals who are downloading the latest Hollywood blockbuster and their favourite movies of all time. Realistically, I can understand their position. Let me begin by telling you about the last time I remember going to the movies! When I arrived at the concession, I was told that an adult ticket is $13.95 plus taxes CAD. This was on a Tuesday. I can distinctly remember when movies used to be half price on a Tuesday, is it just me or did that get thrown out the window with the advent of the movie megaplex? No matter, $13.95, plus the extra ticket that I buy for my date equals a nice round $32 and some change. Well, after swallowing and catching my breath the worst was behind me. So I thought! “Something to eat”, I offered my date. Sure how about Combo #1 a coke and a medium popcorn, only $10 after taxes. It does not help matters that no outside food or drinks are allowed in the theatre. Had I known I would have brought my passport as proof of citizenship when I crossed into the Famous Players Embassy. It seems appropriate that the laws of supply and demand have no effect on prices in this Famous Players ‘world.’ So the grand total? After I played a few games of air hockey, my date and I awaited the start of our show, left me just under $50 poorer. Needles to say, the next time I feel the need to indulge in the world of movies with a date, I plan to stay in, rent a movie for $5 and whip up some microwave popcorn and a few drinks. That is not to say that I would necessarily turn to pirated films, but I can certainly understand why people would choose to.
Of course as a film producer and distributor, these individuals do have the rights to their works. It is considered stealing and they technically do have the law on their side. Of course this does not make the practise of inflating ticket prices an ethical one. Perhaps these leechers are downloading more, as the ticket prices increase. One thing is for sure, this heated debate has no easy fix!

Notes...
In addition to the high prices, movies today have one feature that was once unheard of: 20 minute previews! Trailers are one thing, and surely a great way to target moviegoers for future sales, but advertisements are quite different. Aside from the fact that there are far more trailers in today’s movie’s than ever before, it is the 10 minute advertisements and theatre promotions that seem very unnecessary. With television for example, it is a common fact that if you choose to purchase PayPerView or The Movie Network (TMN), you are paying for movies and the luxury of a commercial free viewing. Why then does this principle not apply to theatres? This is surely another benefit of renting (or downloading) a movie. Could it be that these ridiculously overpriced movie tickets, gourmet food prices, and annoying trailers play a larger role in deterring customers than piracy? I believe so.
I do understand that perhaps it is more than just the movie you are paying for at the movies; you are also often paying for parking! Okay, that was a joke, but truthfully you are paying for an experience unlike any other. While watching a movie in the comfort of your home has the financial benefits, these movie megaplexes are a far cry from the theatres we grew up with. The luxury stadium seating, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound, massive screens, crisp DVD quality picture to name a few, all make going to the movies an event. So like any situation, there are pros and cons, you will just have to weigh them for yourself!

Some Thoughts

2005-10-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

After walking away from my computer I thought to myself - $3.5 billion is a great deal of money. I mean, especially when speaking of budgets we through across the terms millions and billions as if they were interchangeable. We often do not fathom the amount of dollars that actually is. The truth is its thirty five million hundred dollar bills. You may you choose to interpret it how ever you like but the bottom line is that means a lot of people, a lot of jobs, a lot of time and much more. My thoughts on this was that the $3.5 billion figure is assuming that those people who download movies would otherwise pay to rent or watch the same movies in the theatre if piracy were not possible. How can this be true? Perhaps many of these downloaders are doing so simply because it is, in fact, FREE. I honestly do not believe that every single movie downloaded would be paid for if that were the only way. I noticed some support for this view from a fellow blogger, Dave Taylor (source).
If anything these leechers, as we will call them, will likely download a movie and then decide if it is worthwhile to watch on the big screen. These days every movie preview makes a movie look great. This is not to say that I support the downloaders. I will do my best to remain impartial but realistic. That’s all for now!

Questions Questions Questions

2005-10-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

What is piracy doing to the film industry? Who are the culprits behind video piracy? Who are the victims? What are the effects? How did all of this begin? Is downloading a video a crime? What are the penalties?...
There is an endless list of questions surrounding the topic of piracy. One of the largest problems is how to address the problem itself. How can there be a solution if we do not understand the realm of the problem? That is to say, for there to be a problem there must be culprits. However with the internet connecting us to the entire world around us, from the comfort of our own homes, users login with the luxury of anonymity. It is through the internet from which users browse websites which are gateways to pirated videos. How then can these users be culprits if they cannot be identified? These users download files and feel invulnerable, and more often than not, it is true. After all, how can we monitor the activities of every user on the internet? To get an idea of the size of the internet, just type the letter “a” into Google’s search engine. In a split second, the search engine searches an index of nearly nine billion entries! That is nearly 50% more websites than there are humans on this planet. It must therefore be impossible to track malice on every one of these sites? Besides, who is responsible for monitoring the internet? The police? If so, which police-force? This is one of the longest standing dilemmas with the internet. Since the internet is not a physical place that you can go to, who has jurisdiction over internet crimes? If a man from the United Kingdom copies a USA movie from Hollywood movie onto his computer, then shares it on an online website based out of china, how should he be prosecuted?
The question of what internet piracy is doing to this film industry is one of great depth. Film as we know it is an industry full of money. Any big budget movie in Hollywood today costs anywhere from $80M to $100M and up (source). For less than a fraction of a percentage of that cost, a movie can be copied onto DVD and distributed on the web. This of course can be detrimental to the film industry as a whole. Reports indicate that the industry is now losing approximately $3.5 billion a year due to piracy (source). Now there is some food for thought.