Online Pirates Use Submarine Tactics
In the face of potential arrests and litigation, Internet movie swappers are getting foxier in outwitting Hollywood.
Search USATODAY.com
They have begun bypassing popular peer-to-peer (P2P) networks like Kazaa and eDonkey, where their activities can be tracked, to share unauthorized copies of hit films. That is making it harder for the film industry to find them.
Internet detective agency BayTSP says the availability of hit films on P2P services is down as much as two-thirds from a year ago.
Mark Ishikawa, CEO of BayTSP, which hunts for online pirates on behalf of six of the seven major studios, says many P2P users "are starting to understand that they can be caught and in trouble."
With the publicity generated by the 3,000-plus copyright infringement lawsuits filed by the recording industry and BayTSP's 1 million monthly cease-and-desist notices to online traders, "People are getting smarter," Ishikawa says.
And more careful.
"Students are sharing among themselves with private networks," says Phil Leigh, an analyst with research firm Inside Digital Media.
They connect their PCs in small or large groupings.
Internet cops like Ishikawa track down swappers when they "upload" films or other media to share with others. Uploading is copyright infringement with fines reaching as much as $150,000 per title.
Now, many users disable the "share" function in programs like Kazaa while nabbing a film or song, thus protecting their identity.
"Because of the lawsuits, people are wary about putting their files out there, unless they're in trusted groups," says Jorge Gonzalez, co-founder of Zeropaid, a Web site devoted to file sharing.
They still trade, but more quietly.
"We haven't seen any indications that downloading is anything but an ever-growing problem," says 20th Century Fox Senior Vice President Ron Wheeler.
The Motion Picture Association of America says it loses $3.5 billion a year from piracy. The industry has yet to sue anyone for sharing films online.
The MPAA is lobbying Congress to pass a law that would make it illegal to videotape a movie from a theater. Most films offered for trade come from video copies.
About 14 states have passed such legislation. Three people were recently arrested in Los Angeles for videotaping The Day After Tomorrow, The Passion of the Christ and The Alamo.
Bootleg copies of films also are sold frequently as DVDs on street corners. Internet piracy is "slightly greater" than bootlegs now and in two years "will be even greater," says MPAA anti-piracy chief John Malcolm.
|
