Movie piracy has thrived in recent years in part due technology advances impacting the consumer choice for media, and advocates for a free open internet. Underground film markets have turned into an extremely lucrative business model for many whom are willing to evade the long arm of the law. “Film industry estimates of financial losses to studios and other film copyright holders resulting from illegal copying or piracy are in the hundreds of billions of dollars, both in the United States and abroad”(Straubaar, Larose and Davenport 204). This begs the question, what would be the most effective response by the film industry to keep it from being hurt by piracy like the music industry?
To start, the movie industry needs to recognize that there is absolutely no way for piracy to be stopped because exploits in technology are viewed as a challenge by hackers who will take advantage of their freedom of choice to engage in illegal activity. Additionally, with technology advancing so swiftly, movie pirates can adjust with these advances by remaining shielded through virtual private networks, or even the laws of other countries. The Pirate Bay torrent website for example, has been shut down numerous times, and it is still one of the most visited sites on the interwebs. The founders of Pirate Bay have also faced charges in court, and completed jail time, but the site remains intact. “Gottfrid Svartholm was initially convicted in 2011, when his involvement with the bittorrent site led to a one-year prison sentence handed down in Stockholm, Sweden. Svartholm, also known as Anakata online, had been found guilty in absentia alongside three of his Pirate Bay colleagues for copyright infringement”(Hern). It is worth noting here, that since the various prosecutions by the MPAA on the founders of Pirate Bay were largely unsuccessful given the sites prominent existence, and the laws of the United Sates only being able to go far, that the movie industry needs to focus on the diversification of their products with advances in technology.
Ultimately, the progression of technology is going to be the biggest ally to the MPAA because the net is the battleground for piracy itself. “Google is also perfecting a “video fingerprinting” technology that makes it possible for computers to spot copyrighted material”(Straubaar, Larose and Davenport 207). If we look today at the relatively competitive streaming options available for film media, we can see that competition is good among companies because the cost is lowered to the consumer. It can also be mentioned that the music industry lacked this large span of competition for many years. In fact, a sound contention can be made that after the literal death of what we knew as the record store industry, the monopolistic music giant of Apple through itunes was really the only competing company with illegal sharing websites. Other legal companies such as Rhapsody and Amazon Music were in existence, but did not offer the immersion that Apple brought to the music industry through an eco-systematic experience. The film industry will survive as long as they utilize a “strength in platforms” approach which can enhance consumer experience.
Works Cited
Hern, Alex. Last Pirate Bay co-founder released from prison . 25 September 2015. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/29/last-pirate-bay-co-founder-released-prison-gottfrid-svartholm.
Straubaar, Joseph, obert Larose and Lucinda Davenport. Media Now, Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology. Boston,MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012.
