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16 Million Americans Pirated A Film Last Month
The Robin Hood Effect....

Yes, there's an endless sea of legit video distribution systems about to collide with traditional broadcast interests -- but film piracy is also ramping up just as quickly. According to a new study, 20 million Americans have downloaded a movie off of the Internet in the last month, with 80% claiming they exclusively use file-sharing sites to do do. The use of such services has doubled in just the last year. "A typical movie downloader from file-sharing sites is 29 years of age and has 16 titles stored on their PC -- 63% are male and 37% are female," says the report.

The report notes that 40% believe downloading films is a very serious offense. When asked about stealing a DVD from a brick and mortar store, that number rises to 78%. It's a "Robin Hood effect," according to the study's director. People generally think the studios are rich enough, so they see theft as almost justifiable. "The current crop of 'download to own' movie services and the new ones coming into the market will need to offer greater flexibility of use, selection and low prices to convert the current users to their services -- otherwise file-sharing will continue to thrive," added Yigit.

In other words, the film industry has to compete with piracy by offering services that are well-stocked with titles, cheap and easy to use. So far that hasn't been the case, with studio-sanctioned services offering cumbersome DRM, significant platform restrictions and limited catalogs. Another recent study confirmed piracy has a significant edge over legit services when it comes to total users. The most popular pirated video content? Adult films.

Most recommended from 174 comments



DaMaGeINC
The Lan Man
Premium Member
join:2002-06-08
Greenville, SC

2 recommendations

DaMaGeINC

Premium Member

heh

I cant count how many I download. If its good. I got it! The stuff comes out in almost dvd quality and for free. Why would I want to drive my lazy ass across town to go spend $20+ to see a movie. I would be a very poor man if I paid for all the movies I downloaded. shesh. suck my cock mpaa.

nirvansk815
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
united state

2 recommendations

nirvansk815

Premium Member

Other things are more important

I haven't downloaded any movies in a long time. I'm choosing to fight this battle with my wallet; two wrongs don't make a right.

dadkins
Can you do Blu?
MVM
join:2003-09-26
Hercules, CA

2 recommendations

dadkins

MVM

I didn't!

Know why?
All the movies suck! Quality is fine, the movies themselves blow monkey chunks!

Why would I want to download a sucky ass movie or movies?

I BOUGHT a couple... but they were Blu-ray. I have no plans to download a 50GB DVD from ANYWHERE!
Not to mention, there arent that many HD movies out there - yet!

KMA MPAA!

Tell the damn studios to start making better movies!
No one wants to pay $12-$29 for a crap movie! DUH!

guitarzan
Premium Member
join:2004-05-04
Skytop, PA

1 edit

2 recommendations

guitarzan

Premium Member

This is why

quote:
with studio-sanctioned services offering cumbersome DRM, significant platform restrictions, and limited catalogs.
How hard is this to see that?