Asher Moses over at the SMH has written a fantastic article dissecting the figures bandied around by anti-piracy lobby groups. Like a surgeon’s scalpel slicing through rotting flesh, Moses dismantles the industry’s arguments, labelling them as self-serving hyperbole.
The article runs through a number of issues related to piracy, from the lofty numbers thrown around by the entertainment industry, to the analysis of the legal proceedings against “Australia’s biggest pirate”. Time after time, the entertainment industry is found wanting in justifying its claims.
If you want to understand just how much the entertainment industry is crying wolf on piracy, this is a must-read.
[SMH]
Richard
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 5:50 PMSMH only published this article after crikey.com.au took Fairfax to task for accepting the BS claims by the industry at face.
About time Fairfax did some “proper” journalism on this issue
Phil
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 8:18 PMiiNet’s recent paper “Encouraging legitimate use of Online Content” is worth a read too on this subject, along with their “Hollywood Dreams”.
Xheis
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 8:38 PMAn extract that sums things up:
Acting on information from MIPI, police seized “close to 100 CD burners and approximately 25,000 discs containing pirate music housed in a suburban CD store”.
MIPI’s general manager, Sabiene Heindl, said at the time: “This is one of the largest and most blatant illegal music burning labs that we have seen for some time.”
It was only this year that the case finally ground its way through the courts and further details were released.
Of the 25,000 “pirate” CDs that MIPI claimed it seized, 14,600 were blanks, while the remaining discs were mostly of Asian artists which the store, Lucky Bubble, had a licence to reproduce.
Nick
Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 9:26 PMYou’d have to feel sorry for the poor sod who had to check the 14,600 blank CD’s!
MarioC
Thursday, March 24, 2011 at 11:44 AMA perfect example of how the record industry is using scare mongering and the stupidity of unrealiable journalism to cloud the minds of the fools that believe it.
Ive said time and time again, when the industry starts to produce QUALITY material at an affordable price, the people will come.
Oh but wait.. then record profits won’t be made… and what about actors, they need minimum $20Million for a movie, honestly, come on! Wake up.
People need to stop supporting crappy movies/music and that will make them wake up and smell the coffee.
Sorry for the rant style response.