MPAA Suing Biggest File-Sharing Networks

[Drunken Savior]

Originally Posted by http://www.imdb.com/news/sb/#1

MPAA Suing Biggest File-Sharing Networks

Undeterred by the record industry's failure to convince the courts that Internet file-sharing networks enable copyright infringement and should therefore be held legally accountable, the Motion Picture Association of America announced Tuesday that it is suing the BitTorrent and eDonkey file-swapping services and will work with law enforcement and civil authorities around the world to shut down servers on their networks. In a statement, the MPAA said, "The operators being targeted by these actions have helped online pirates steal hundreds of millions of illegal copies of movies and TV programs." Rejecting the claim by operators of the networks that they can be used for legitimate purposes, John Malcolm, head of the MPAA's anti-piracy operations, said, "The operators of these servers exercise total control over which files are included on their servers and even determine if some kinds of files aren't allowed."

Oh Nooeesss!!!1!11!

[Escaflowne2001]

Hmmm... Interesting to see how this turns out.

[Joe Redifer]

Don't get me started on the MPAA. They are a bunch of greedy fucks. Personally I do not pirate movies, nor do I care to. Why not? First of all there's nothing worth pirating or even watching these days. Let's face it, the mjority of movies these days suck pretty bad. Secondly I don't mind paying for a movie that I like... when it comes out on DVD (since most theaters these days really suck in their presentation).

But what realy irks me off is MPAA head Jack Valenti. A couple of years ago at ShoWest, he gave a giant speech about how that year was the biggest growth ever in the movie industry and how profits alone exceeded 4 billion dollars more than the previous year (remember, these are just profits). What does he do after announcing all of that great news? He goes off on a tirade about how movie piracy is destroying the industry and how we'll all have no more jobs if it keeps up. Fortunately Jack has stepped down from the MPAA, but they still remain complete asses.

NOw when you go to the theater, you can see various methods of anti-piracy in effect. One of them is called CAP code, or "Coded Anti-Piracy". These are direct marks on the film, usually (but not always) in reel 2 of the movie. They appear onscreen as a series of dots that stay onscreen for two frames and then disappear. Then the position of the dots change and they flash again a few seconds later. Check it out:

See those nasty brown dots around and on wimpy Tobey's face? Yup. Those dots are unique to each and every print of a given film and are meant to be caught on camera if a person videotapes a movie with a camcorder (which is just stupid anyway). The dots will be in different positions on each print, and that way when a pirated movie is released on DVD or the internet, they can trace it back to whatever print it was copied from, and then raise all hell with the theater. The problem is that prints go from theater to theater, so the MPAA yells at the wrong theater.

Now they are resorting to security guards patting down the audience before they enter an auditorium in some places, and others have people wandering through the auditorium with night-vision goggles trying to catch pirates. All of this is very distracting and treats the customer as if they are criminals. Most of the pirated stuff you see comes from Hollywood screener DVDs, anyway, so they're barking up the wrong tree.

The MPAA wants every last penny, and if they miss out on even 1 cent they will cry bloody murder. I hate 'em. They should just realize that some battles can't be won. They claim they are losing billions each and every year to piracy. They assume that for each person who watches a pirated movie would absolutely definitely go buy a $10 ticket if it wasn't available for free. Not true. Many people watch pirated movies just because they're there. If piracy was done away with 100%, I don't think they'd see a huge increase in their profits.

OK I'm done for now.

[Drunken Savior]

Originally Posted by Joe Redifer

Most of the pirated stuff you see comes from Hollywood screener DVDs, anyway, so they're barking up the wrong tree.

Well, they are also coding those. If an Academy member is caught letting their DVDs get pirated, they lose their membership. Check this link out, it's BBC, that means it's good for you! But your pretty much right. Pirating has a season: Oscar Season. Right now is when you see High Quality Pirated material online. DVD Rips. But when the summer hits come out, you get camera copies, which are REALLY lame. Usually pretty dark, sometimes you get a clipped image, and POOOOOR audio. Though pirates usually tend to use a headphone jack (Hey, MPAA, guard those dumbarses!).

[Messanic]

I'm actually surprised that the anime, manga, and gaming industry hasn't gone after Bittorrent. The anime and gaming industry actually turn a blind eye at stuff like this because most people that watch fan translated manga and anime buy this stuff the second it hits the US, or whatever other country. I usually pirate a game and then import it if it's any good, but for the most part, nobody gives a **** about movies.

[DeathStroke]

Anime studios generally don't care about piracy outside of their own home market of Japan. It is the companies that end up licensing the stuff to bring to the overseas market that get their panties in a bunch.