The US movie industry is not sitting back idly when it comes to illegal movie downloader's. The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has fired off another round of lawsuits against movie downloads which could lead to fines going as high as $150,000 (£84,727) or even prison terms for those found guilty.
The MPAA has highlighted that it's on the war path against piracy, which was originally started by the music industry against downloader's who swapped music tracks online. MPAA director for worldwide piracy John Malcolm said that people must learn that piracy is harmful to people who use their talents to create movies.
The ramping up of suits against downloader's of movies has come after the US Supreme Court found that services that operate via Peer 2 Peer are liable for the content that is distributed on them. Individuals are liable for any content they distribute also and can face fines or imprisonment. Mr Malcolm said the MPAA didn't like suing people as well as spending large amounts on lawyers but they had to halt the distribution of stolen content.
The movie industry claims that they lost $3.5 billion (£1.9 billion) in 2004 because of piracy.
The US Supreme Court recently ruled that peer-to-peer file swapping networks such as Grokster may be accountable for the actions of their customers. Individuals who copy or distribute a film over the internet are also acting illegally under copyright laws and can be sued for damages. Mr Malcolm said that while the MPAA did not like suing individuals and spending money on lawyers, it had to continue in its quest to halt the "online distribution of stolen movies". The industry association claims the film industry |
Well if the movie industry didnt charge so much for going to the cinema they may be able to reduce piracy but if they want to be greedy they will fall into the same fate as the music industry.
Source: BBC
