Saturday, June 15, 2013

Film Piracy



What is Film Piracy?

Much like software and music piracy, film piracy is the illegal downloading and distribution of unlicensed material. Film Piracy occurs on a global scale and costs the film industry billions of dollars every year. Pirated films can be found almost anywhere, from online to DVD distribution at the street level. A major reason for the popularity of film piracy is the expense of going to the movies or purchasing a DVD. 

DVD Distribution

DVD Film Piracy has its roots in the VHS platform. VHS tapes were easily reproduced, much more so than traditional reel film. This caused a lage rise in the pirated material. When the DVD appeared on the market in the 90's it became even easier for people to mass produce DVD's and sell them illegally. This method is widely seen overseas and in major cities.

Online Distribution

In the last 15 years Film Piracy has moved to the internet. Many websites and peer to peer networks are involved in the trading of films. This practice is highly illegal and bears stiff penalties. Some popular sites for this include Pirate Bay. Most of these web sites are part of the deep web, which we will be talking about in our next blog. Online piracy has grown so much that recently a new record was set, the season finale of Game of Thrones was simultaneously streamed by 170,000 people. 

Most anyone with any advanced computer knowledge has little problem finding any movie or TV show they like. These are not limited to films that have been released to DVD already, many that are still in theaters are among the most popular.

According to Torrent Freak the following are the 10 most pirated films for the week ending June 9, 2013
Week ending June 09, 2013
Ranking (last week) Movie IMDb Rating /
torrentfreak.com
1 The Hangover Part 3 (R6/TS) 6.3
2 Dead Man Down 6.6
3 Jack The Giant Slayer 6.6
4 Iron Man 3 (R6) 8.0
5 21 And Over 5.7
6 The Incredible Burt Wonderstone 5.9
7 Fast and Furious 6 (Cam) 7.7
8 Hammer Of The Gods 5.9
9 Epic (TS) 6.8
10 Stoker 7.3
http://torrentfreak.com/top-10-most-pirated-movies-of-the-week-130610/

Anti Piracy Efforts

You may think that downloading movies is harmless. The cost of going to the movies is high, but rest assured it is much cheaper than the lifetime of costs you will pay if you are caught downloading or uploading illegal films. Uploading one of these films is a federal felony, and could cost you thousands.  It is currently estimated that online film piracy is costing the United States economy 20.5 billion anually. 

How many of you have ever seen a pirated film?
Have you downloaded one yourself?
Do you think Film Piracy is detrimental or helpful to the film industry? This is a hotly debated topic

8 comments:

  1. I have never downloaded any pirated movies but I did buy some when I was over seas in Dubai and Bahrain. When walking through the Gold souk there are people selling them all over the place. I have not bought any since then. I do think it can be detrimental to the film industry seeing how much people do it.

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  2. When I first come to the U.S. three years ago, I have downloaded one film from the internet. After that, my friend told me that what I did was illegal and might get me in trouble. In this case, I have deleted the film and decided to avoid downloading films from illegal websites. I think that it can be detrimental to the film industry because of the number of people that do it.

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  3. Piracy is getting easier day by day. The number of websites and software that can be used to download just about any digital file is amazing. The software has become way more advanced since its beginning with software like Limewire. But now with software like Utorrent it makes downloading quick and easy and now it seems as if buying music is a thing of the past.

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  4. In my country, there is no rule or condition for pirated films, if there is, they are actually not considering it as a rule they should follow. I have never tried to download a movie or music from the Internet, because the consequences of that are not good.
    I have looked actually to the Federal penalties for downloading pirated movies. According to the eHow.com, when you "pirate" a film off the Web, you are committing copyright infringement if you download the movie without the consent of the copyrighted material's owner (ehow.com).
    So, I think Film Piracy is detrimental to the film industry and that depend on how much people actually see it.

    Sources:
    http://www.ehow.com/list_5925804_federal-penalties-downloading-pirated-movies.html

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  5. Piracy is becoming more available to consumers now because of the increased electronics and avaiability of cameras and video viewing systems. It is easier to download a link and view in on your computer than go to the movies and pay $25+ on a new movie. I think a lot of people know it is wrong, but the access to it makes it irresistable. We should be aware that it truly is not free because someone has to pay for the loss of profits to the film industy like Mohammad said.

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  6. Most of the time, countries outside of the US don't care about piracy. I went to Peru and there where places that sells pirated movie. My relatives there told me that there wasn't really a law that prevents piracy. In fact, he said that it actually helps them. Some of you guys said that it is difficult to not watch pirated movies since it is accessible and I could understand that. But keep in mind, film industries never like to give away things for free. They really want to prevent piracy from happening.

    Speaking for Group 5

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  7. In answer to the question "Do you think Film Piracy is detrimental or helpful to the film industry?", I personally believe that it can be both detrimental and helpful at the same time. It is detrimental because it can take away a lot of the potential profit a film can make. Some movies turn out to be a huge success, but with people watching them for free, they don't gain the revenue they're supposed to and might seem like they spent too much for a movie that could have made more money.
    On the other hand, film piracy might be good because it can spread the word about a good movie. Films can gain profit and good reputation in ways other than ticket sales. People can give high ratings, post praising comments, and even buy the movie's merchandise.

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  8. I used to watch pirated movies all the time. Film piracy is definitely detrimental to the movie industry. It makes consumers pay more for legal products and companies lose money.

    Streaming sites, like Netflix, helps the consumer and the business. It limits the need for people to want to pirate movies, because of the low price and great video quality. Also, the business can generate revenue from the subscriptions. I feel that Netflix is a leader in Film Anti-Piracy efforts, because it's secure and movies are watched and provided on their website legally.

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