MPAA Blames BitTorrent for Star Wars Distribution

AI Playground writes "Slyck News reports on the MPAA's press release (.doc) blaming the BitTorrent protocol for the leak of Episode III. MPAA President and CEO Dan Glickman: 'There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of Revenge of the Sith. The unfortunate fact is this type of theft happens on a regular basis on peer to peer networks all over the world.'"

Comments

Re:Firefox crash?

[whiteranger99x]

Did anyone else's Firefox crash when visiting the parent's link, or is it just me? (Try refreshing a couple of times.)

Nah, didn't crash on mine. Try using a computer that DOESN'T suck ;)

Re:Terminology is chosen to generate emotions

[91degrees]

Unconsciously, the word 'piracy' conjures up images of barbarians who murder and rape without remorse.

I agree with you when you say "theft" is an emotionally charged word, but "piracy" I've never agreed with. Piracy has been used so long to mean unauthorised duplicate that it has two distinct meanings. Suggesting that vicious brutal murderers are the same people as those who copy video tapes is so ludicrous that it can only possibly be used as a joke.

Aside from that, there are no longer negative connotations associated with being a pirate. The reason for this is Hollywood itself. The modern view of a pirate is Jack Sparrow, or the Dread Pirate Roberts. A romantic hero. Even the pirate villians like Captain hook are considered quite romantic and dashing.

Re:Besides...

[Jardine]

I'm sorry folks but it's no longer high art when you get a slurpee named for it. I'll recant on this if they launch the new Van Gogh flavored slurpee.

Yeah. Like Star Wars was ever high art and not a vehicle for selling merchandise.

Mmmm Slurpee

Let's please get our heads on straight...

[null etc.]

Bleh. I find nothing wrong with the terms "piracy" and "theft" to describe such actions. "Copyright infringement" should be reserved for cases such as when I make a video game that stars Mario or Pokemon, infringing upon Nintendo's copyright.

If a DVD is a product which provides the service of displaying a movie, then stealing that movie is a theft of service.

Re:they need to be stopped

[Reaperducer]

it's already been ruled that copyright infringement is NOT theft

In a real world court, or on Slashdot? I'd like to see a link to the court decision that says that.

Re:You, sir, are most correct!

[Mark Bainter]

If you're going to disagree with him, could you at least make an effort at a reasoned argument? Your one-liners aren't going to win any people over. The "Are you with the MPAA by chance" is tired if-you're-not-with-us-you're-against-us-rhetoric that doesn't advance the cause of sharing.

That wasn't a for us/against us comment, it was a reference to his weak grasp of logic, and poor argumentation being similar to that used by those groups. It has nothing to do with who he is for or against.

As for the one liners, when a post is that bad, and the topic has already been covered many times, it's not really worth wasting the time extensively explaining why.