As most of you remember, a few weeks ago 20th Century Fox came out and made outrageous claims and threats regarding movie piracy in Canada. Their claim was that as much as 50% of all the pirated movies out there come directly from Canada, and more specifically from Montreal. Well… looks like a recent study is showing those claims to to be total bullshit. The good folks over at BoingBoing give us this.
Not surprisingly, none of these figures have been subject to independent audit or review. In fact, AT&T Labs, which conducted the last major public study on movie piracy in 2003, concluded that 77 percent of pirated movies actually originate from industry insiders and advance screener copies provided to movie reviewers.
Moreover, the industry’s numbers indicate that camcorded versions of DVDs strike only a fraction of the movies that are released each year. As of August 2006, the MPAA documented 179 camcorded movies as the source for infringing DVDs since 2004. During that time, its members released approximately 1400 movies, suggesting that approximately one in every ten movies is camcorded and sold as infringing DVDs. According to this data, Canadian sources are therefore responsible for camcorded DVD versions of about three percent of all MPAA member movies.
Yeah, I can see how MPAA and Fox would get 3% confused with 50%. It’s an easy mistake… morons. But it just goes to show you the immutable power and accountability free status the MPAA and these studios often believe themselves to be in possession of. They can say whatever they want, whenever they want threaten whoever they want over whatever they want and and do so free of fear of reprisals because they have all the clout.
So once again the MPAA gets to come out and lie through their teeth, make wild unfounded accusations against an entire country… and have no accountability. Nice.
By the way MPAA… I DARE you to go ahead and delay movies released in Canada and see what happens. I double dare you (said in a 4 year old voice).
