Posted on 06/04/2005 10:16:46 AM PDT by new cruelty
While thousands of people waited in line for the premiere of "Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith," hundreds of others didn't wait in line at all. And they didn't have to pay.
They downloaded pirated copies of the movie, burned them onto DVDs, and watched the last and latest of the Star Wars saga in their homes.
Illegal? Yes. And also very, very easy.
What is apparently a pre-release studio copy of "Revenge of the Sith" was uploaded onto the BitTorrent file-sharing network. First hundreds, then thousands of people downloaded it. And one of the features of BitTorrent is that the more people who download the movie, the faster those downloads get.
Friday, more than 50,000 people were in the process of downloading it.
The availability of "Sith" - even before it hit the theaters - demonstrates the pressures industries are facing from file-sharing networks. Millions of dollars of potential revenue is lost to pirated music, movies and software.
Those networks, of which BitTorrent is the largest, allow users to share whatever files they have on their computers with other users around the world. And more often, those files are songs and movies.
"Fans have been lined up for days to see "Revenge of the Sith,'" Dan Glickman, president and chief executive officer of the Motion Picture Association of America, said in a statement. "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 online."
And trade they do; BitTorrent is only one of the peer-to-peer or "P2P" networks - so called because they connect individual users directly to hundreds of their "peers" to share files. Others, such as the FastTrack and Gnutella, use different technology but with the same result.
In the early days of P2P file sharing, users worked with quirky software and had to spend time getting it to work. But today it's a whole new, user-friendly world.
Getting get a copy of "Sith" is fairly straightforward, and that's what has the entertainment industry in an uproar.
It requires downloading and installing free BitTorrent software, which is available at a number of Web sites. Once installed, finding content is as simple as going to other sites and entering the name of what you're looking for.
Entering "sith," for example, at one of them nets dozens of results, many of which are full-length, pirated copies of the film. A couple of mouse clicks later, you're downloading the flick.
There are caveats. The file might not be what it claims to be (although bad files tend to disappear quickly as users delete them). And inexperienced downloaders might not know how to burn the files onto a DVD.
Further, downloaded movies are often studio "screeners" that aren't Blockbuster quality. The most popular "Sith" download, for example, features an omnipresent time code across the top, counting the movie in hours, minutes, seconds and frames.
Then, of course, there's the size. Even with a high-speed connection, a full-length film takes hours to download - although thousands of users are willing to wait overnight for a free, first-run film.
While the motion picture industry is quick to attack file-sharing networks, Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, said a lot of the blame falls on the movie studios.
"I think the answer is: Guard your own back door, buddy," Boucher said. "People in the studios ... are taking copies out of the studio or from their offices, and they're simply, illegally putting this material on the Internet."
Boucher referred to a 2003 case in which a copy of "Hulk" was released to the Internet thanks to an employee at a Universal Studios' advertising agency. "Obviously," he said, "the studios need to crack down on their own staffs and on the people who they're hiring."
Answer IMO = Make the movie theaters receive new movies via a Satellite Dish only. Transmit from "one" location only. If someone wants to steal it they'll have to tape it in theater or hack the Sat Dish. Up to the hollyweirds as to how much encryption they layer upon their closed circuit system. If they can make a cellular phone disabler for such venues then I suppose such a device can be made to scramble any video recording device brought into a theater. Of course theres a geek in the garage that will crack that system also eventually so its good money thrown after bad whose cost will be passed to the consumer........
Hollywood needs to get their money from advertisers like TV networks do up front when they produce a movie for TV maybe. If someone wants to record from their home , Tivo or VCR etc then fine....profit and costs are covered and manageable. Losses moot per se from piracy. Dunno as to real solution short of reducing the original point of distrubtion or the concept of massive earnings for every movie.
With CGI computer assisted "film making" the need to pay multi million dollar wages to stars and producers is kind of a joke anyway. Is the CGI work cheaper than a cast of thousands per se ? I think the answer is better profit with modern methods. If they get their profit up front then all else is just gravy regardless of stolen or sold later. Put actors on a wage or percentage of the profit vs a gazillion duckets for their.......art.
It also does not mention that it appeared on Usenet before it moved to the torrents
Yep.... places I don't surf with a 36K dial up connection.....:o)
Nor did it mention that the availability of it has not at all reduced its take at the box office.
Nor did it mention that close to 100% of those who download it will go see it at the theater anyway -- if the movie quality is good, a torrent is the best advertising possible for a movie.
Ot looks like this one was smuggled out from the studio before release date.
Not to mention if they download it, it'll look like garbage and they will want to see it in the theater anyway. Probably people who just couldnt wait.
Seriously, you don't watch a new Star Wars movie on a poor quality pirated download on a computer screen from computer speakers.
Yup.
No you burn it to a nice dvd and throw it in your dvd player so you can watch it on the nice 42 inch tv screen with surround sound. Thats how everyone i know watches downloaded movies and tv eps. Watching it on your pc screen is so 1999. heh.
lucas probably had the copy leaked, jus for the benefit of the mpaa, so that there would be an 'event'.
now we know that the dhs and patriot act were used against the downloaders of this movie, to make an example of the downloaders... you can bet your ass that the mpaa, will be bemoaning the need for evermore dhs and patriot act level involvement by the feds. They will push until becomes the norm for internet censorship, surveillance and continuous federal investigations.
'everytime you download an mp3, a terrorist makes another pipe bomb..." or similar will be next.
puleeeaase.
I don't download em , or pay for em at the movie theater. I buy the DVD when it comes out......
My pc is hooked up to a 8 x 4.5 foot projector and a 3.2 kw sound system.
And if you want you can burn to a DVD and watch it on a small box tv
Amen it is easier than the federal charges.
I went to a matinee on Thursday. It cost me $7.50 for the ticket. I was hungry, and the CHEAPEST value meal was $9.75!!!.
Yes, it's cheaper than a football game, but still criminal. The market forces ARE at work, thus the fall in cinema revenue. With people also being able to do PPV and DVD, why get raped at the theater.
Hopefully, some day, some executive will realize: "Hmmm, if I charge LESS, I will get more patrons." Until then, movie attendance will continue to fall.
LOL lots easier.......:o)
For the money time and effort most of these sorts have tied up in equipment , supplies etc it's almost cheaper to by the damn DVD than trying to bootleg a movie. But I guess over time they save a dime er two. Just wouldn't like looking orver my sholder for some holloyweird litigator wanting me in court for such minimal savings.
..... Just my choice of course.
bump with no comment
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