Hollywood Had Math Wrong on College Movie Downloads

Study overestimated students' illegal grabs
By Jane Yager,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 23, 2008 5:55 PM CST
Hollywood Had Math Wrong on College Movie Downloads
   (Shutter Stock)

College students aren't such movie thieves after all. Hollywood laid heavy blame for illegal downloading on colleges when a 2005 study alleged that 44% of domestic industry losses came from students downloading films. Now the industry has revised to 15%, citing "human error" in the study. Critics, however, say even the new figure also looks fishy, the AP reports.

One campus IT spokesman says the Hollywood calculation fails to account for the fact that most students live off campus—and that 3% of downloading is closer to the mark for campus networks. A higher-education leader adds that the entertainment industry has unfairly targeted campuses when in fact "illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing is a society-wide problem." (More illegal downloading stories.)

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