The math is pretty straight forward.
It was likely the most widely-downloaded camcorder recording of a movie ever. Following the thinking of the MPAA, this dramatically hurts the profits of ailing Hollywood studios because illegal downloads are the worst thing that has come out of the digital age. It stands to reason that they should spend millions on lobbying Washington for strict measures to end piracy and save Hollywood. The virally-popular pirated version of The Avengers (which came out a week before it’s US release) is the reason that the film flopped.
Except it didn’t.
It has already been discussed in the great articles listed below and I’m not going to rehash it. I just want to make this perfectly clear:
- Piracy is wrong but acceptable (even necessary) in some circumstances
- Its effects on Hollywood profitability are debatable (but only barely as The Avengers demonstrated)
- The MPAA and other organizations are wasting money, effort, and public opinion on something that will not help them
- The government is using piracy as a gateway for destroying internet freedoms
These concepts are plain as day. Only those on the other side of the fence can find fault in them. I’ll take challenges in the comments.
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