New ‘piracy’ shock-horror study
p2pnet.net news:- "… the numbers are little more than educated guesses about an activity that is inherently difficult to track. Purveyors tend to avoid government surveys, and data are typically scarce or unreliable. Analysts have noted, for example, that someone buying a pirated DVD on a street corner may not necessarily have done so in lieu of purchasing one at a Best Buy’."
That’s a quote from a Los Angeles Times story discussing a new report which ‘proves’ so-called piracy is causing havoc not only in LA itself, but also within the corporate entertainment industry.
Prime movers in seeing the report produced are the 10 giant, multi-billion-dollar music and movie organizations. Together and separately, the Big 6 studios, Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney, and Big 4 record labels, Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG, claim the twin evils of piracy and file sharing are "devastating" and "decimating" them.
However, neither group has ever been able come up with reliable data to make the case, and both continue to report eye-popping revenues..
The study, conducted by the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, is called False Bargain: The Los Angeles County Economic Consequences of Counterfeit Products and was commissioned by Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, council members Wendy Greuel and Jan Perry, and local politician Zev Yaroslavksy.
Villaraigosa is, among other things, a keen supporter of the studios’ appalling introduction of MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) intellectual property merit badges to the LA Scouting movement.
The MPAA describes Yaroslavksy, as something called a "county board of supervisor," also spelling his name incorrectly in a nation-wide press release hurriedly rushed out to capitalize on the carefully orchestrated the International Intellectual Property Alliance onslaught which, by an amazing coincidence, similarly claims Hollywood is in dire straits.
Nor are Greuel or Perry strangers to Hollywood or its ways.
"Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and City Council president pro tempore Wendy Greuel joined forces with local business owners and entertainment industry leaders Thursday in an effort to deter shoppers from purchasing pirated movies and music this holiday season," said Variety recently.
And Perry was on hand when the MPAA paid for ten surveillance cameras in the LA Fashion District. "The MPAA is delighted to assist the fine and dedicated efforts of Los Angeles law enforcement officials in catching people selling illegal DVDs," said the MPAA’s John G. Malcolm at the time.
Meanwhile, "Leading the push for the study was Los Angeles Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who saw piracy firsthand when she was a DreamWorks SKG executive," says the LA Times.
Greuel and Villaraigosa, "will announce a task force today of elected leaders and industry representatives who will examine ways to combat piracy, possibly through tougher judicial sentences for offenders," it says.
Also See:
Los Angeles Times – Piracy robs L.A. economy, study says, February 16, 2005
appalling introduction – MPAA corrupts US Scouts, October 21, 2006
similarly claims – Canada arouses corporate ire, February 15, 2007
Variety – Pols walk antipiracy plank, December 20, 2006
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Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local politicians. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance. Don’t just complain. Do something!
February 17th, 2007 at 9:59 am
“Analysts have noted, for example, that someone buying a pirated DVD on a street corner may not necessarily have done so in lieu of purchasing one at a Best Buy”
Just like the buyer of a fake $20 Rolex will not buy the real thing if he/she cannot buy the real thing.
Now, if the Rolex company wants to sell a Rolex to everyone, they are goint to have to sell the Rolexes for a much lower price. Presicely what the record companies will have to do….. sell better music at a much lower cost…. so as to compete with piracy and to mtivate the music fan to buy instead of asking friends for copies.
How about $4-5 per CD o a good music/artist and $7-8 for exrarordinary music/artists? This can easily be done by the record companies. After all the cost to manufacture a recorded CD is less than $1.
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com