BUSINESS
Movie piracy on the rise
12-07-2004
by Craig Liddell
Around one in four Internet users have downloaded a movie, according to a new report, resulting in billions of dollars in losses to the entertainment industry.
That's according to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which has completed a new survey of 3,600 Internet users in association with market researcher On-line Testing Exchange (OTX). According to the pair, about 24 percent of the 3,600 people in eight countries surveyed have downloaded a movie from Internet. When peer-to-peer (P2P) services are taken into account, more than 2.6 billion files are copied each month, according to the Internet piracy study.
The problem seems to be especially acute in Korea, where about six out of ten Internet users (58 percent) have reportedly downloaded movies.
"Although they profess to be active moviegoers, a large percentage of downloaders claim to be attending movies less often than they have in the past," the study says. "This is especially true with the mature Korean market where nearly one in three people who pirate movies are going to the cinema less frequently than in the past."
Being free is consistently ranked in the study as a key reason for downloading movies. But there is also a perception that movies are too expensive, particularly in EU markets.
A majority (56 percent) of downloaders expect to continue downloading movies and nearly two out of ten of non-downloaders (17 percent) are likely to start downloading in the future.
OTX, working in association with MPAA, conducted the Internet piracy to help quantify the problem and offer possible remedies in advance of increased broadband penetration and before improvements in compression technology make downloading motion pictures from the Internet a more widespread activity.
While the focus in recent years has been the illegal downloading of music, several analysts predict a rapid rise in movie downloading as broadband becomes more prevalent. In fact, the MPA survey revealed that many users would download more movies if it took less time.
Similar evidence can be found in an October 2003 study by telecoms giant, AT&T, and the University of Pennsylvania. "While unauthorised copies of movies have been distributed via portable physical media for some time," the researchers said, "low-cost, high-bandwidth Internet connections and peer-to-peer file sharing networks provide highly efficient distribution media."
Many movies are showing up on file-sharing networks shortly after, and in some cases prior to, theatrical release. Seventy-seven percent of the sample movies appeared to be leaked by industry insiders.
Meanwhile, MPAA says downloaders most frequently learn about the ability to download films through word of mouth. Information on the Internet and past experience downloading music files also prompted piracy.
"Although in the minority, a substantial percentage of respondents have no qualms with the concept of downloading films before they are released theatrically," the survey said. "Nearly half believe it's acceptable to download movies before they're released on DVD/video and the vast majority has no objection to downloading after it is released on DVD/video."
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