The 50 million dollar kid. (Piracy)

[Zappo]

Uh, yeah. Please don't get political and definitely don't try to use this message board as a place to help people fileshare. Thanks. --Dinkeldog/EN World Moderator

Woops. My apologies - I didn't think that such a generic statement could be considered "political" or "inflammatory".

I hope it's OK if I just say that I share barsoomcore's position, to which I'd like to add the notion that anonymous p2p programs are going to make the situation harder for the studios in the close future.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

$50 million--when the movies were

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," "Matrix Revolutions," "The Cat In The Hat," and "Mona Lisa Smile.

I don't think so.

 

[Crothian]

unless they release how they got that number, which they won't, no reason to think it isn't accurate. Hope they throw the book at him

 

[Turanil]

The article notes that the RIAA estimates that they lose $300,000,000 (300 million dollars) each year to piracy.

A lie, just a lie, and nobody to tell them that some people around (including me) are tired to hear such lies. They don't lose 300 millions of dollars, because most of those who download pirated movies wouldn't have bought them if they couldn't download them. Furthermore, when someone record a movie on TV with a VHS nobody screams to theft. I say: enough of this hypocrysis!!!!

 

[Turanil]

A lie, just a lie, and nobody to tell them that some people around (including me) are tired to hear such lies. They don't lose 300 millions of dollars, because most of those who download pirated movies wouldn't have bought them if they couldn't download them. Furthermore, when someone record a movie on TV with a VHS nobody screams to theft. I say: enough of this hypocrysis!!!!

Let me tell you this: I have a dozen pirated movies (on CDs), but then I have bought a hundred DVDs. On the dozen of pirated movie, the ones I really liked (LotR) I did buy in DVD; the others I don't consider them good enough to see them more than once. NOW, of the hundred DVDs I bought approximately a dozen are crap I wouldn't have bought in the first place if I could have seen them beforehand. So, I lost approximately 250-300$ due to this crap. Since I am not alone in this case in the world, I can tell you that deceived customers lose 950$ millions of dollars each year because of having been led to buy crap films and music. Nobody ever speak of these people.

 

[Angcuru]

IMO, the RIAA can go lie down and die of syphilis ins a muddy ditch.

The bands are the ones who make the music, but the CD companies take that music, press it onto a 1 cent disc of plastic, and sell it for a 1500% profit. And of that, they give the band at most, 10 to 25 cents per CD sold. Granted the CD company has to buy the rights to produce and distribute the music, but still, they make an obscene profit.

Do I give a damn when these companies scream copyright infringement? Not one bit. But do I think this kid should be punished for selling downloaded material? Yes, let the bastard pay. It's one thing to download something for your own pleasure. It's another to sell someone else's property it for a profit, be it the property of a huge corporation or a private citizen. It's called theft. Which is illegal, in case you didn't know.

As for Copyright Infringement penalties : copyright infringement penalties in this case range from $100,000 to $250,000 per individual work. Average that to $175 grand per violation. it comes to about 29 individual works which have been 'violated'. So that's a few movies and maybe a CD or two. At most, if we're going by the 50 mil being in copyright fines.

300 million a year lost from P2P filesharing? Fat chance. They have to have illegally violated the privacy of millions of individuals per year to obtain these figures, otherwise they are based on sample-less statistical hypothesis produced by the record companies so they have something to whine about.

I use P2P programs on occasion to download music, movies, etc.. If I like what I hear or see, I go out and buy the material. If not, then I haven't wasted my hard earned money and I delete the waste of hard drive space. I have spent at least $400 on some damned good music and movies which I found SOLELY through searching on P2P (Manowar, Rhapsody, Freedom Call, Acoustic Alchemy, Andres Segovia, Ranma 1/2, Record of Lodoss War to name a few). So the RIAA has made a profit from P2P filesharing in my case. And I know for a fact that a lot of people 'operate' in the same manner as I do.

I hope the people who make the RIAA's policy on these matters suffer in the manner described in my opening line. Simply out of spite.