With over 6,200 lawsuits filed by the RIAA on copyright-infringing P2P users to date, it is not until now that the other major entertainment industry group the Motion Picture Association of America has decided to follow suit.
While it may seem odd that the MPAA waited until now to target end users, they have been fairly busy in the past aiming to get in new legislation to criminalise P2P usage altogether and help trying to push acts that would make DRM technology mandatory and enforce it in all digital equipment.
They are expected to file up to 230 lawsuits in the coming weeks against users sharing out copyrighted movies online. So far, no warnings have been sent out to any potential individuals targeted. Before performing action they aim to make it clear that sharing copyrighted-movies can result in hefty fines or penalties. Recently, the MPAA has been more active in sponsoring schools to teach about piracy issues and placing antipiracy notices in cinemas. nuihc and GristyMcFisty both used our news submit to send in the following news:
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So claims an Associated Press source said to be familiar with movie studios' plans, though the MPAA itself would not comment on the move. Searches of most P2P networks are as likely to reveal movies as well as music, in many ways it's surprising that the film industry has taken as long as it has to follow the RIAA's example. To date, its legal action in the P2P arena has centred on trying to have the software deemed illegal. But with both District Court and Court of Appeal failures behind it, the MPAA may very well have decided that it needs to tackle movie-sharers directly. The MPAA is currently waiting to hear whether the Supreme Court will rule in its action against the P2P networks themselves. AP's source said the first lawsuits - up to 200 in number - could be announced today. The MPAA has said it will be making an announcement later today relating to the illegal sharing of movies via P2P networks. Whenever they come, the lawsuits will likely target sharers known only by their IP address and username. To date, the RIAA has issued over 6200 lawsuits against named and unnamed individuals, most recently 762 complaints filed late September. The first lawsuits were sent out in September 2003. More info on this CNET article. |
One other likely reason for the MPAA to wait this long is that movie piracy over the Internet has been slower and less common than music piracy. Shared movie files are typically around 200 times the size of a typical MP3 which more likely discourages dial-up and low bandwidth users as well as discourage users from making many such files available since the uploads quickly gobble up their bandwidth.
While music file sharing can help consumers choose albums to purchase, online movie piracy is more likely to affect sales. When it comes to music, most consumers are happy to listen to a given track they are interested in many times. However, when it comes to movies, consumers tend to watch it once only unless it is one of those movies that can enjoyed many times. This means that if a consumer ends up watching a movie that was downloaded, then chances are that they are unlikely going to purchase it later. This also shows why renting movies is so popular and there are no music rental shops.
nuihc wrote: It figures. Following RIAA like lemmings.
Source: The Register
