p2pnet - rss feed: Did a Hollywood insider leak Sicko?
p2pnet.net news:-With claims of evil Canadian camcording pirates and wicked p2p file sharers who are ” devastating” Hollywood ringing loudly in the background, “We are actively investigating those who illegally uploaded ‘Sicko’ to the Internet, and we will take the strongest possible legal action.”
So says Weinstein Co general counsel Peter Hurwitz, Weinstein being the company which is, “distributing the $9 million documentary through Lionsgate but handling all marketing and other costs not related to theatrical distribution,” in the Hollywood Reporter.
If Weinstein’s people succeed in tracking the perpetrator down, it’ll be extremely interesting because yet another Hollywood insider will be named, although you shouldn’t expect to see any hard-hitting investigative reporting from the mainstream media.
“Every filmmaker intends for his film to be seen on the big screen,” the story has Moore saying. “This wasn’t a guy taking a video camera into a theater. This was an inside job, a copy made from a high-quality master and could potentially impact the opening weekend boxoffice. Who do you think benefits from that?”
Michael Moore’s Sicko has been on the p2p networks for some considerable time and predictably, it also wound up being posted in instalments on YouTube.
Asked about accusations that he may have leaked the film himself, “Moore scoffed at the notion,” says the story, also quoting him as stating, “The (Weinstein) brothers are devastated.”
Wichita lie-man Dan Glickman (upper right), who runs Hollywood’s MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), says Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, Sony, NBC Universal and Disney are being absolutely “devastated” by illegal copies of new and old releases which are, he cries, showing up online and on street corners around the world, thanks to camcorders and file sharers.
Accordingly, the MPAA has come up with really cool ways of trying to nail the bad guys, an example being the introduction of DVD sniffing Labrador Retrievers Lucky and Flo.
Maybe the dogs should be trained to cruise Hollywood.
Way back, an AT&T Labs report said of a total of 285 movies researchers sampled on the p2p networks, 77% were leaked by industry ‘insiders’, and Mel Gibson’s Icon company sued a Hollywood post-production house for the unwanted online appearance of his Passion movie.
In February this year came the news Salvador Nunez Jr had allegedly uploaded a copy of Flushed Away after getting a copy from an Oscar voter. More recently, a working copy of Lions Gate’s Hostel: Part II showed up on a DVD.
Camcorders and file sharers?
Meanwhile, global film audiences, “boosted the worldwide box office to an all-time high of $25.8 billion, compared to 23.3 billion in 2005,” an 11% increase, states the MPAA in its annual theatrical market statistics report.
The US box office, “rebounded in 2006 to finish the year at $9.49 billion in revenues compared to $8.99 billion in 2005 - a 5.5% increase from the previous year, with 1.45 billion movie tickets sold in the U.S., ending a three-year downward trend in ticket sales,” it says.
In 2006, 63 films grossed more than $50 million at the box office, a 12.5% increase from the previous year, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest exceeded the $400 million mark.
But the only figures the mainstream media and politicians pay any attention to are the phoney statistics regularly released by the MPAA, and they, coupled with Hollywood’s screaming and shouting, persuaded Canadian prime minister George W. Harper to introduce new legislation, making camcording a crime.
Back to Sicko, “One source close to the situation said that anti-piracy firms were flooding the Internet with false versions of the film, much as the record industry has with songs,” says Hollywood Reporter, adding:
How the leak of a version apparently taken from a DVD copy will affect the film’s theatrical boxoffice remains unclear. Moore’s documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11″ was widely bootlegged and available in a pirated version online around its June 2004 opening but went on to earn $119 million at the domestic boxoffice.
Hurwitz said that “we at the Weinstein Co. are outraged by illegal piracy. Protecting our product and the creative artists involved is our highest priority.”
Is Moore concerned? He reiterated his stance this weekend that he disapproves of copyright laws.
“I think the music industry’s response to Napster was misguided … and for me, it’s about getting people to see the movie and that’s what I want, so they will talk about it,” Moore recently told Brandweek magazine. “… I would never want to prosecute anybody who would download (his film).”
(Thanks, Clint from Chicago 
Also See:
evil Canadian camcording pirates -Conned by Hollywood: Canada’s disgrace, June 2, 2007
Hollywood Reporter - ‘Sicko’ leaks have studios crying malpractice, June 19, 2007
instalments on YouTube - Sicko shows up on YouTube, June 18, 2007
DVD sniffing - Lucky and Flo, back again, MNarch 14, 2007
working copy - Hostel: Part II already online, June 1, 2007
screaming and shouting - Canadian Movie Piracy Bill cometh, May 31, 2007
all-time high of $25.8 billion - Hollywood reports record revenues, March 6, 2007
If your Net access is blocked by government restrictions, try Psiphon from the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto’s Munk Centre for International Studies. Go here for the official download, and here for details. And if you’re Chinese and you’re looking for a way to access independent Internet news sources, try Freegate, the DIT program written to help Chinese citizens circumvent web site blocking outside of China. Download it here.
rss feed: http://p2pnet.net/p2p.rss | | Mobile - http://p2pnet.net/index-wml.php | | And use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site
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!
June 19th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
I got the SiCKo download last night. Picture perfect DVD format. I watched it and loved it. It is a totaly awesome movie, very well done.
In my humble humble opinion this movie is an absolute must see. I will be purchasing several copies legally to distribute copies to friends & family.
I believe in try before you buy. and I’m totally going to buy this movie.
I also bought
- The BBC Documentary Planet Earth
- Inconvenient truth
- What the Bleep
- Live 8
The moral of the story here is that people will pay willingly for quality.
I’m in Canada and have really nothing to worry about in terms of health care, or piracy cops coming and raiding my house, yet I watched the film from a pirated copy and liked it so much I’m going to go buy several copies.
And by the way if it was available to buy a real-time download online for $10 from michaelmoore.com or something I would have done that before downloading it via bittorrent. The issue for me is really one of convenience.
I used to dl a lot of pirated music because it was the most convenient way to fly, but now that napster and iTunes provide the quality and convenience I want, I’m happy to pay.
RIAA, MPAA, Copyright holders etc. need to get the point that the masses will pay gladly if they provide the best in convenience and quality. I mean look it took me all of 45 minutes to download a DVD quality copy of this movie, I got it before the movie even hit the screen, I didn’t have to leave my house and I wasn’t forced to endure non skipable ads.
If the film industry wanted to beat this problem they should just get ahead of it. Put up a damn website where you can pay $10 to download the movie quickly, legally and without ads and people will flock. And don’t go trying to DRM license it etc. etc. etc. that’s stupid. Save your money, people don’t want that and it hurts your bottom line.
What’s more is every type of DRM can be beat easily. Pirates will always find a way so get over it. Just WIN on Quality and convenience like any other freaking company has to and your problems will subside.
Anyways, definitely go and watch this movie!!!!!!
legally of course
June 19th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
“Did a Hollywood insider leak Sicko”
Who else would have access to a DVD quality copy of it?
I might actually buy this one. I’ll have to see it first though, which means renting or downloading. If the Weinstein brothers pull a Metallica and go suing everybody and crying about money forget about it. If they’re not happy with the millions they’re making let em get real jobs flippin’ burgers.
June 19th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
DLd it. Terrific. I’ll buy it whenever it comes out on a DVD just like I did with F9/11 and then my whole family can watch it. Like Jon I’m a homeschool guy and Sicko is an education.