The MPAA is rapidly catching up with the RIAA in terms of
blindly and blatantly pushing fot their business models to carry on as
they are, without taking in to account the new media, and new way of
sharing since the arrival of the Internet.
In it’s unswerving aim to stop any illegal activity from
taking place with it’s copyrighted materials, the organisation has been
going after university campuses, and using statistics to warrant it.
Here, Gigi Sohn discusses the affect of the MPAA data being
found to contain falsehoods.
Congress Should Demand MPAA Data on the Cost of Piracy
Yesterday, the Motion Picture Association of America admitted
something that many of us had suspected all along – an
MPAA-funded
study showing that 44% of the industry’s losses came from
illegal
downloading of movies by college students using campus networks was
overstated by a factor of 3.
The MPAA now says that only 15% of its
losses come from campus activity. Hollywood has been using that larger
number to push for legislation,
now pending in the House of Representatives, which would require
colleges and universities to filter their networks for copyright
infringement.
But why should we believe the 15% claim (and indeed, Mark
Luker of EDUCAUSE
says that a more accurate number would be 3%)?
The 2006 Study Used
The 2006 study from
which the numbers were derived was conducted by the consulting firm LEK,
and purported to demonstrate that the industry losses from both hard
goods piracy and downloading was $6.1 billion.
The study, which
purportedly cost the MPAA $3 million, was controversial from the start,
and the organization has for two years steadfastly refused to provide
the data and the methodology underlying the study, even after an
influential member of Congress had requested them.
Arlen Specter Quizzes MPAA
Nineteen months ago, at a Senate
Judiciary Committee hearing on Hollywood’s proposal
to close the analog
hole
(the outputs that allow you to capture analog content and digitize it),
then-Committee Chair Arlen Specter (and other members of the Committee)
expressed skepticism about Hollywood’s claims about losses
resulting
from the analog hole and asked MPAA President Dan Glickman to show him
the data:
Chairman Specter. Mr. Glickman, lots of information about
piracy from you and from the Department of Justice, but can you
quantify any direct connection between piracy and the analog hole?Mr. Glickman. We have just completed a major study called
the LE case study which estimates that our companies lose about $6.1
billion a year in piracy, and as part of that—Chairman Specter. OK. I mean from analog—I have
only got 5 minutes.Mr. Glickman. OK, $1 to $1.5 billion in what we call
noncommercial copying of movies for family and friends. We believe a
big part of that is due to the analog hole.Chairman Specter. How do you arrive at the figure of $1.5
billion?Mr. Glickman. The firm did worldwide and national piracy
study focus groups. The methodology we considered to be quite good.Chairman Specter. Well, let me ask you to supplement your
answer with the specifics as to how you come to that conclusion.Mr. Glickman. Sure, be glad to.
Chairman Specter. We would like to see the methodology
because before we really tackle the problem, we want to know—
before we really look for a solution, we would like to have a
specification of the problem.Mr. Glickman. We will get you that, Senator.
Over a year and a half later, Senator Specter’s
request has been unfulfilled.
Conclusions
It is time for Congress to demand that the MPAA turn over the
data
and methodology from the LEK study. Hollywood can pay for all the
studies it wants, but when it seeks to use those studies as
“evidence”
of the need for legislation to impose technology mandates on industry
and on higher education institutions, the public has the right to see
whether that “evidence” is at all valid.
Until then, Congress should
refuse to consider any legislative proposals based on this or other
studies purporting to demonstrate the cost of piracy.
Gigi Sohn is an author at Public Knowledge discussing public rights in the emerging digital culture. Post has Some Rights Reserved.
