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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
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Streaming Sites Thwart Studios' Piracy Crackdowns

Industry fears revenue meltdown as watching pirated video online goes mainstream

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(Newser) – The rise of video streaming sites has defeated movie studios' toughest anti-piracy efforts, the New York Times reports. Consumers can watch copyrighted material online—often from sites hosted in countries with slack anti-piracy rules—more easily than ever. The industry estimates "digital theft" now accounts for 40% of all its lost revenue.

Watching illegally streamed videos online is becoming much more prevalent and is bound to increase as the economy slumps, warn studio execs. Lawsuits have been launched against sites that link to pirated material, but the entertainment industry is also attempting to buck the theft trend by working to make more material available online through their own sites. "That’s how you start to marginalize piracy," one analyst said.

Movie studios are losing the fight against piracy, largely because of the rise of online video streaming.
Movie studios are losing the fight against piracy, largely because of the rise of online video streaming.   (©vlidi)
DVD sales are at their lowest in five years and studios fear they will continue to slump as consumers watch more pirated videos online.
DVD sales are at their lowest in five years and studios fear they will continue to slump as consumers watch more pirated videos online.   (©avlxyz)
Warner Brothers' ambitious efforts to stop pirating of
Warner Brothers' ambitious efforts to stop pirating of "The Dark Knight" failed to stop the movie being illegally downloaded millions of times.   (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Stephen Vaughan)
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Streaming has gotten efficient and cheap enough and it gives users more control than downloads do. This is where piracy is headed.
- James L. McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research

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2 comments
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radnip
Feb 5, 09 5:07 PM CST
When legal means are available, at least money can be made. Moreover, there are people who will pay to go to a legitimate domestic site than an unknown pirate site. Reply
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Cegorach
Feb 6, 09 12:55 AM CST
I call shenanigans (mainly on almost any figure the RI/MPAA come up with). First off, with the legal streaming, that is usually only available in the US, so everyone else has to resort to less-than-legal means to see the shows. As for the "40% loss in revenue to piracy", bs. The problem is that the movies that are being made are crap, and there are no real incentives to go see the movies, the perfect example: The Dark Knight. It was the most pirated movie of 2008, but it also made the most money. Why? The movie was worth it, not because they "stopped the dirty pirates" Here is a better summary of the article: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20090205/0319043658.shtml Reply
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