Salocin

Studios to sue online movie swappers

Download movies, get sued. This is the message being sent out by the MPAA to the thousands who swap movies over the internet, in a move mirroring the music industry's assault on file-traders.

Given the ease with which a DVD can now be ripped and made available for download, and the huge variety of movies available through file-sharing networks, not to mention the steadily escalating speed and falling cost of broadband internet access, it is not surprising that the studios should feel threatened.

One wonders what the justifications for downloading movies will be. The studios have good years and bad years depending on the appeal of the movies they've made, and many people watch lots of commercial rubbish while claiming it's no good. Are they now going to refuse to pay on the grounds that the films were no good anyway? They'll probably claim that if they like the movie, then they'll "go out and buy it anyway", which means it's "positive for the industry, and grows sales", or some such nonsense.