CNN.com is reporting that the Motion Picture Association of America will follow in the footsteps of the RIAA and start filing lawsuits against those that trade movies over the net.
“The Journal reports that the movie industry hasn’t faced widespread piracy experienced by music companies. It takes far longer to download an entire movie or DVD than a song. But DVD sales have become an important driver of industry profits, one it feels it must move to protect before illegal downloads become more common. The paper said that the industry estimates that annual sales lost to all forms of piracy — including the physical bootlegging of films, usually on DVD or videocassette — has crossed the $3 billion mark.”
What we have yet to see is any sort of report from the MPA stating that piracy is affecting their sales to some sort of serious degree. Music downloads are easy to do because the file sizes are typically lower than that of movies allowing those on dial-up internet access to download music. But when it comes to movies, broadband is normally a requirement. In any case we have to respect the MPA for wanting to protect their property; the question is whether they will be as aggressive as the RIAA which has gone so far as to sue people under the age of 18.
Read more at CNN
