Movie piracy on Internet called an epidemic :: Namibia Internet Gateway cc ::

Articles: Movie piracy on Internet called an epidemic

Posted by admin on Monday, July 12, 2004 - 12:35 AM

One in four Internet users has illegally downloaded a movie, and even more troubling for Hollywood is that people are attending, buying and renting movies less often, according to an industry survey released last week.
The survey of 3,600 Internet users in eight countries, including the United States, showed that 17 percent of those downloading movies are buying theater tickets less often and 26 percent are buying or renting movies less frequently. The study was released by the Motion Picture Association of America and OTX, a global online research company. "The nature of movie piracy has all the characteristics of a growing global epidemic," said John Malcolm, senior vice president and director of worldwide anti-piracy operations for the MPAA. "We are intent on increasing the understanding about the serious consequences of engaging in this illegal activity both through our expanded education efforts and our beefed-up copyright enforcement actions." The study focused on Internet users in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. Of those surveyed, 56 percent said they expect to continue to download movies from the Internet, and 17 percent who do not currently download movies said they expect to begin to do so within the next year. In addition, 38 percent of the current downloaders said they believe it is acceptable to download movies before they are released in theaters, and 48 percent said it was OK to do so before a film is released on home video. The MPAA has taken its fight against movie piracy to college campuses to educate students and parents about illegal movie downloading and its negative effects on the film industry. Anti-piracy ads are now appearing in daily newspapers and magazines nationwide as well as in more than 100 college newspapers. Outgoing MPAA president and CEO Jack Valenti hopes the campaign will stem the illegal downloading but said the MPAA is keeping open the option of taking legal action against violators.

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