The MPAA released a new threat press-release blaming BitTorrent for facilitating the file-sharing
of the recently released final Star Wars movie. The announcement comes with some direct statements from its president,
Dan Glickman, saying things like:
"We must stop these Internet thieves from illegally trading valuable copyrighted materials on-line"
and
"My message to illegal file swappers everywhere is plain and simple: You are stealing, it is wrong and you are not
anonymous. In short, you can click, but you can't hide"
Since the MPAA don't seem to care if Google crawls and indexes their content they released the statement as MS-Word
file. Click on the jump link to read it.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 19, 2005
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.”
Glickman said that the average movie costs $98 million to make and market. Less than one in ten movies re-coup their original investment from the domestic box office and six in ten never recoup their investment . The average BitTorrent network has up to 2.5 million users a day. The movie industry is the only industry with a positive balance of trade in countries with which it does business. Copyrighted industries are responsible for an estimated $626 billion of the total gross domestic product.
”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.”
The Motion Picture Association is engaged in an all out effort to root out Internet movie thieves and make them pay
the consequences of illegally downloading and swapping movies on-line. It has hundreds of investigators looking into
these kinds of cases worldwide and has already been successful in shutting down several BitTorrent type sites. As part
of its anti-piracy effort, the MPAA and its member companies have brought lawsuits against many Internet movie thieves
across the United States and plan to continue such action.
1. "If piracy and those who profit from it are allowed to flourish"
This is another lie from the MPAA. The sites they continue to target and shut down aren't profiting from the torrents they provide. If they want to close them down for the reason that they give out free copies of their films then go ahead, but why lie about it if they are justified?
Posted at 4:29AM on Dec 19th 2005 by Johnny Mann