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.’…‘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.’ ” [MPAA Press Release in Word document format only, via the Interesting People mailing list]
This statement would indeed be alarming, if it wasn’t for the fact that the original copy leaked onto BitTorrent was stolen by someone associated with the film and if “Revenge of the Sith” hadn’t made $50 million the first day alone.
Glickman shoots himself in the foot by noting that the movie was
pirated and yet “fans have been lined up for days to see” it. He wants
to have his cake (fans lined up everywhere!) and eat it, too (but
piracy “will erode an engine of economic growth and job creation”).
Explain to me again why Congress listens to him? Oh yeah – the money.
Hopefully
they’ll cry wolf one too many times, and they and their record profits
will be seen for what they really are – a successful business that
needs no further legislation from our government. The legal business
models Glickman refers are indeed working and with time, they will grow
into a thriving business if they stop concentrating on disabling customer playback devices with overly-restrictive DRM and concentrate instead on producing a good product. Just like every other business out there. [The Shifted Librarian]