MPAA study of piracy reveals damage far worse than expected

The Motion Picture Association of America has conducted a detailed study of movie piracy over a period of 18 months across 28 countries to try and estimate how much piracy is costing them. Unlike its previous studies, this study takes in consumer research by telephone, Internet surveys, focus groups, more consistent surveying methods and even Internet downloading to obtain more accurate estimate.

The study, by LEK Consulting LLC, was completed last year, and people familiar with it say it reached a startling conclusion: U.S. movie studios are losing about $6.1 billion annually in global wholesale revenue to piracy, about 75% more than previous estimated losses of $3.5 billion in hard goods. On top of that, losses are coming not only from lost ticket sales, but from DVD sales that have been Hollywood's cash cow in recent years.

The estimate showing a dramatic increase in piracy is a function of different methodology used in the report. Previously, people familiar with the matter say, the MPAA used figures based on a series of random calculations that estimated how much was lost in each country. In one market, it was calculated that for every bootleg DVD that turned up in raids, seven more existed. Thus, estimates for piracy losses ran from $280 million in China to $275 million in Russia. There was no previous estimate for the U.S. alone, but in the new survey, losses from piracy are believed to total almost $1.3 billion solely in the U.S.

IMHO, MPAA's calculations are a joke! If the MPAA believes that all these, so called, anti piracy efforts are going to significantly increase sales at the box office or through DVDs then I am all for giving them the opportunity to show the world a thing or two. I can't imagine the MPAA thinking they are going to increase income by 1.3 billion by clogging up congress with superflous legislation, but I am all for eliminating all the excuses they manufacture in denial of the concept that perhaps most movies are just shit and people don't want to waste their money on them.

I do not download movies because the bootlegs tend to suck, and the download times are excessive, and most of the time its just easier to rent a DVD than to figure out how to make it worth watching on my home theater (I have only a regular DVD player, no DivX etc) Sure, I still buy movies that I like. The last several additions to my library were Kill Bill 1/2, Four Rooms, Monsters Inc, and Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory. However I WILL NOT buy a movie I haven't seen.