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Feds Question Big Media's Piracy Claims

Posted by kdawson on from the show-me-the-losses dept.

WrongSizeGlass writes "CNET is reporting that the GAO's study of big media's piracy claims has raised some questions. (Here are the study's summary, highlights [PDF], and full report [PDF].) 'After spending a year studying how piracy and illegal counterfeiting affects the United States, the Government Accountability Office says it still doesn't know for sure.... The GAO said that most of the published information, anecdotal evidence, and records show that piracy is a drag on the US economy, tax revenue, and in some cases potentially threatens national security and public health. But the problem is, according to the GAO, the data used to quantify piracy isn't reliable.'"

8 of 261 comments (clear)

  1. Not reliable? by odin84gk · · Score: 3, Funny

    So... It was stolen data?

    1. Re:Not reliable? by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Funny

      They included accidents wherein passengers had alcohol in their systems, even though the drivers were completely sober.

      I was going to make a joke about the effects of "second-hand alcohol" on the driver, but grossed myself out thinking about it...

      --
      It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
    2. Re:Not reliable? by zill · · Score: 3, Funny

      Sounds like the Federal "study" that was done by the NHTSA. Ever heard the claim that ~50% of all fatal crash accidents involved alcohol? Guess how they arrived at that number? They included accidents wherein passengers had alcohol in their systems, even though the drivers were completely sober.

      But technically it's true. If I died by crashing into a brewery while driving sober it would still count as a "fatal crash accident involving alcohol".

      accidents caused by alcohol != accidents involving alcohol

      The phrasing is extremely dishonest and deceptive, but it's still true nevertheless.

    3. Re:Not reliable? by Thing+1 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I had an old girlfriend

      You should try a young one, perhaps? Just not too young, please don't think of the children.

      --
      I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
  2. Just ask by SnarfQuest · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just ask the RIAA for their data on piracy. They should have accurate information.

    --
    Who would win this election: Andrew Weiner vs Andrew Weiner's weiner.
  3. More like inflated data by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Its no secret that the RIAA/MPAA have been putting up fake torrents to catch pirates for years. When you take that into account, you can easily inflate the number of "pirates" to near unrealistic numbers.

    Company A sets up a torrent hosting a fake copy of Avatar with 1000 seeds, 10000 leechers and 1,000,000 completed downloads.
    Company B does a basic search for "Avatar torrent", sees Company A's torrent and records it.
    Company C, which owns Company A and Company B, then goes to the U.S. government and claims "We lost over a MILLION Avatar sales from piracy! We demand a government bailout!"

  4. You don't say... by geminidomino · · Score: 5, Funny

    the data used to quantify piracy isn't reliable

    Ya think, DiNozzo?

  5. Re:Should it include by bmo · · Score: 4, Funny

    Every hard disk not sold by Paramount will be counted as 20 incidents of piracy.

    --
    BMO