The problem of stealing from the web is widespread and has caused a great many serious business problems and as a result governments have been trying to deal with the problem. In England, the British Government brought out The Digital Economy Act in 2010, the declared aim of which was to "make provision about the online infringement of copyright and about penalties for infringement of copyright and performers' rights; ..." Basically this legal language, which no one other than the lawyers can understand, does nothing to clarify a complex situation. The issue of what music, movies and software can be downloaded for free or shared is unclear. Moreover, even when it is clearly "stealing" can the offenders be caught and punished? And if the "offenders" are not punished for their "crime" then what is the point of it being illegal? These are just some of the basic questions now facing the movie industry.
According to the Forrester Research (2003) the illegal downloading of movies has not had any real impact on the business since the majority of people still prefer to see movies on a big screen. However, this research was not substantiated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Moreover, in the fast-paced modern world there have been many changes since this research was conducted in 2003; changes which have nullified the claims of the Forrester research. Firstly, there was the development of home theatre PCs (HTPC), which in conjunction with high definition (HD) plasma TV screens have made it financially possible for millions of people to create the big screen atmosphere within their own living rooms. In 2008, Professor Stephen L. Baglione of Saint Leo University maintained that "downloading movies or television shows, illegally, has not reached the same level as music ...". These assertions were based on the fact that 95 percent of the people who partook in Baglione's research questionnaire admitted to having downloading music at one time or another, while only 33 percent had downloaded movies or TV shows. But Baglione's statistics are doing nothing to reassure movie theaters who feel they are in danger of becoming outdated.
In the fast paced technological world we live in any research conducted in 2008, as Baglione's was, is already out of date. In Professor Baglione's time the advantages of going to the movies versus the benefits of illegally downloading were fairly equal. In favor of going to the movie theater was the fact that you could see the new movie the moment it was released. That argument no longer applies. Nowadays, movies can not only be downloaded immediately they are released, they can often even be acquired before the legal release date. Another issue that was very relevant in 2008 was the amount of time it took to download a movie. The ever improving technology means that the time needed to download illegal material has been reduced considerably and so another consideration in favor of the movie theaters has been eliminated.
And so what has the movie industry done to catch up with this new electronic era? Like the music industry they are resorting to supposedly time-honored methods of protection: suing! In September 2010 "The Hollywood Reporter" claimed that 20,000 people have been sued for illegally downloading movies and another 30,000 lawsuits are pending. These people were caught through new technology, called Guardaley IT that has been developed for just this purpose. But for every person sued there are many more that are not caught. Basically, the movie industry has to take into account the temptation that faces the public. And one has to remember that the main reason society has rules is that without them chaos would ensue. Man is naturally built to follow his own desires and if the law cannot restrict those desires, we will probably not restrain ourselves from acting on them. In the case of electronic piracy the legal restraints do not work and the solution of new technology to fight newer illegal technology is proving ineffective. Hence another avenue is needed.
The problem at present is that they system being employed belongs to the past and we have created a future that we have yet to learn how to deal with. The 21st century needs a new approach to match the new technology. And the movie industry needs to look at what else is happening in the market. The music industry is also in dire straits but iTunes has found a profitable niche in the new reality. The movie industry needs to reassess its business practices in the light of a new reality. It needs to consider reducing the prices of DVD movies so that it will not be worth people's while to download illegally. Electronic piracy is here to stay, and if the movie industry does nothing to acknowledge that, then it will merely fall further behind. The industry that has been so instrumental in creating the technology, needs to learn how to redefine itself in relation of its own creation beyond the screen.
Copyright: Academic Reading
According to the Forrester Research (2003) the illegal downloading of movies has not had any real impact on the business since the majority of people still prefer to see movies on a big screen. However, this research was not substantiated by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Moreover, in the fast-paced modern world there have been many changes since this research was conducted in 2003; changes which have nullified the claims of the Forrester research. Firstly, there was the development of home theatre PCs (HTPC), which in conjunction with high definition (HD) plasma TV screens have made it financially possible for millions of people to create the big screen atmosphere within their own living rooms. In 2008, Professor Stephen L. Baglione of Saint Leo University maintained that "downloading movies or television shows, illegally, has not reached the same level as music ...". These assertions were based on the fact that 95 percent of the people who partook in Baglione's research questionnaire admitted to having downloading music at one time or another, while only 33 percent had downloaded movies or TV shows. But Baglione's statistics are doing nothing to reassure movie theaters who feel they are in danger of becoming outdated.
In the fast paced technological world we live in any research conducted in 2008, as Baglione's was, is already out of date. In Professor Baglione's time the advantages of going to the movies versus the benefits of illegally downloading were fairly equal. In favor of going to the movie theater was the fact that you could see the new movie the moment it was released. That argument no longer applies. Nowadays, movies can not only be downloaded immediately they are released, they can often even be acquired before the legal release date. Another issue that was very relevant in 2008 was the amount of time it took to download a movie. The ever improving technology means that the time needed to download illegal material has been reduced considerably and so another consideration in favor of the movie theaters has been eliminated.
And so what has the movie industry done to catch up with this new electronic era? Like the music industry they are resorting to supposedly time-honored methods of protection: suing! In September 2010 "The Hollywood Reporter" claimed that 20,000 people have been sued for illegally downloading movies and another 30,000 lawsuits are pending. These people were caught through new technology, called Guardaley IT that has been developed for just this purpose. But for every person sued there are many more that are not caught. Basically, the movie industry has to take into account the temptation that faces the public. And one has to remember that the main reason society has rules is that without them chaos would ensue. Man is naturally built to follow his own desires and if the law cannot restrict those desires, we will probably not restrain ourselves from acting on them. In the case of electronic piracy the legal restraints do not work and the solution of new technology to fight newer illegal technology is proving ineffective. Hence another avenue is needed.
The problem at present is that they system being employed belongs to the past and we have created a future that we have yet to learn how to deal with. The 21st century needs a new approach to match the new technology. And the movie industry needs to look at what else is happening in the market. The music industry is also in dire straits but iTunes has found a profitable niche in the new reality. The movie industry needs to reassess its business practices in the light of a new reality. It needs to consider reducing the prices of DVD movies so that it will not be worth people's while to download illegally. Electronic piracy is here to stay, and if the movie industry does nothing to acknowledge that, then it will merely fall further behind. The industry that has been so instrumental in creating the technology, needs to learn how to redefine itself in relation of its own creation beyond the screen.
Copyright: Academic Reading
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