Piracy // Current

Indie Movie Explodes on BitTorrent, Makers Bless Piracy

Hollywood often complains about the billions of dollars allegedly lost due to piracy.... more

atomiclegion
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Movie Piracy, Is it a good thing? -INK illegally downloaded 100k times in 48 hours

(Pictured above - INK packs the house at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood on June... more

Pericles_Lewnes
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Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent This Week

The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘Zombieland’ tops the chart this... more

atomiclegion
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Private Investigators Help Police Track Down MW2 Pirate

There’s an old saying in marketing that goes: “There’s no such thing as bad... more

ShadowPraxis
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Game Developer Promotes Game on Torrent Sites

Game developer RedLynx has been exploring a novel marketing technique for its... more

atomiclegion
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In Guantanamo Film Premieres on BitTorrent

With support from the three largest BitTorrent sites and many other well known... more

atomiclegion
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Demonoid is Alive, The Tracker Has Returned!

It has been many weeks since the popular semi-private BitTorrent tracker Demonoid went... more

atomiclegion
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5 days ago
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Pirate Party Gets Second Seat in European Parliament

With the Lisbon Treaty being signed by all European Union member states, the Pirate... more

atomiclegion
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6 days ago
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Secret treaty to disconnect users from internet

http://torrentfreak.com/secret-anti-piracy-treaty-turns-isps-into-pirates-091104/

bcurrent
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6 days ago
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MPAA Propaganda Hits 60 Minutes

The MPAA scored a victory last night when millions of people tuned in to CBS’s 60... more

atomiclegion
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8 days ago
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Top 10 Most Pirated Movies on BitTorrent This Week

The top 10 most downloaded movies on BitTorrent, ‘Paranormal Activity’ tops the... more

atomiclegion
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60 Minutes Puts Forth Laughable, Factually Incorrect MPAA Propaganda On Movie Piracy

31 years ago, in 1978, the television program 60 Minutes put on an episode about the awful threat of "video piracy" to the movie industry. Featuring the MPAA's Jack Valenti, the episode focused on how the VCR was going to destroy the movie business because anyone could copy and watch a movie in the privacy of their own home. Of course, in retrospect, that episode is hilariously wrong. You would think that, given how wrong they got it thirty years ago on this particular subject, 60 Minutes would be a bit more careful taking on the same subject again.

No such luck.

CBS's 60 Minutes has made itself out to be more of a laughingstock than usual when it comes to "investigative reporting," putting on an episode about "video piracy" that is basically 100% MPAA propaganda, without any fact checking or any attempt to challenge the (all MPAA connected) speakers, or to include anyone (anyone!) who would present a counterpoint. The episode is funny in that it contradicts itself at times (with no one noticing it) and gets important (and easily checked) facts wrong. And, of course, it basically mimics that old episode that history has shown to have been totally (laughably) false.

The report opens with the claim that counterfeit movies is where organized crime is making its money these days. Fascinating. Except they don't show any proof whatsoever that organized crime has anything to do with movie piracy at all. They just claim it, talk about Mexican gangs, and then assume it must be true. But, of course, most of the report actually focuses on the internet and file sharing of movies -- which completely goes against the claim that organized crime is "making its money" off of video piracy. After all, reports have shown that online file sharing has actually been putting DVD counterfeiters out of business. You would think that the "journalists" at 60 Minutes might have noticed this contradiction.

A big chunk of the episode is taken up by director Steven Soderbergh, who has come out in the past touting the MPAA's line before, so it's no surprise that he does so again. He claims that "piracy is costing Hollywood $6 billion a year at the box office." Does he mention that Hollywood has been making more and more and more at the box office every year the past few years? Oops. No. Did the reporters at 60 Minutes look into this fact and bring it up? Of course not. The entire story appears to be an MPAA press release, so you don't want to cloud it with pesky facts that prove they don't know what they're talking about.

Next up, Soderbergh claims that fewer movies are getting made thanks to movie piracy. Uh huh. Another checkable fact. Another one wrong. It was recently summarized, according to the movie industry's own numbers:

2004 Total Movies Released: 567 Total Combined Gross: $9,327,315,935
2005 Total Movies Released: 594 Total Combined Gross: $8,825,324,278
2006 Total Movies Released: 808 Total Combined Gross: $9,225,689,414
2007 Total Movies Released: 1022 Total Combined Gross: $9,665,661,126
2008 Total Movies Released: 1037 Total Combined Gross: $9,705,677,862
2009 Total Movies Released: 1177 Total Combined Gross: $7,596,626,766
(2009 figures incomplete, total movies scheduled to be released, gross to date)

Read the rest of this story at http://techdirt.com/articles/20091101/1818186751.shtml31 years ago, in 1978, the television program 60 Minutes put on an episode about the... more