Movie Studios Plan Copyright Suits Against Internet Movie-Swappers

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 4, 2004 - 9:08am.

Los Angeles -- The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced on Thursday that it will follow in the steps of the recording industry and begin filing copyright infringement lawsuits against individuals suspected of sharing movies on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks. Although paling in comparison to the amount of music traded online, the MPAA said an average of between 115,000 and 148,000 movie titles are traded daily in the U.S. on peer-to-peer services. While on average a movie takes between 12-18 hours to download on Kazaa, the MPAA says newer services provide downloads in 3 to 6 hours and emerging technology could lower the wait to just 6 seconds. "People who have been stealing our movies believe they are anonymous on the Internet, and wouldn't be held responsible for their actions," said MPAA president and CEO Dan Glickman. "They are wrong. We know who they are, and we will go after them, as these suits will prove." MPAA member studios plan to file against as many as 230 defendants in their first wave of movie-swapper lawsuits on Nov. 15, seeking damages of between $30,000 and $150,000 for each alleged illegal movie offered online. "The movie industry has contributed immeasurably to California's economic strength," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "It has also helped many of my own dreams come true. We cannot let illegal movie piracy continue or it will cripple this important industry and seriously hurt California's economy."
http://www.mpaa.org/CurrentReleases/2004_11_04_PressRelease.pdf
http://www.jgpr.com/documents/OctoberP2PReport.pdf
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mpaa4nov04.story
http://tech.nytimes.com/2004/11/04/technology/04pirate.html