While the record and movie industry have taken action against illegal downloaders, recent research claims most of the pirated material comes from industry “insiders.”
The study from AT&T Labs has created a buzz in Hollywood and the Motion Picture Association of America.
Researchers there found that industry insiders leak 77% of all movies found on the Internet.
The MPAA believes the majority of pirated movies come from people recording movies in the theater. They have taken steps to prevent theft of copyrighted movies, including legal action.
The study considers an insider “all participants in the movie production and distribution process other than the end consumer.”
Some examples of insiders cited in the study are people who obtain unauthorized copies of movies by copying either a movie from the editing room, a critic’s advanced copy of a movie, a promotional copy or an awards screener.
Patrick McDaniel, researcher for AT&T Labs, was one of five people who contributed with this study. He said they spent six months writing the study.
“There has been a lack of information about piracy,” McDaniel said. “This study is an attempt to start the conversation for this subject.”
These findings were reported in “Analysis of Security Vulnerabilities in the Movie Production and Distribution Process,” written by McDaniel and AT&T Labs researchers Simon Byers, Lorrie Cranor and Dave Korman and University of Pennsylvania graduate student Eric Cronin.
For 18 months from Jan. 1, 2002 to June 30, 2003, they gathered statistics on 409 movies that met their criteria such as “if the copy has any industry related text or overt watermarks.”
The number was reduced to 312 movies, and they found 183 of these movies being illegally traded online.
Because the study focuses on domestic movies, any movie released outside the U.S. before its U.S. release was removed from the data set.
They then determined when movies first appeared on the Internet through a content verification Web site. These sites are run by people independent from AT&T Labs.
An example of a content verification site is www.vcdquality.com. This Web site provides information about movies available for download including file names, upload dates, theatrical release dates and quality. This site in particular also lists the source for these movies whether or not it’s a DVD or VHS screener.
Currently, information is available for movies such as “Matrix Revolutions,” “Elf” and “Brother Bear,” all released within the past two weeks.
The site’s disclaimer from its Web master says, “It is impossible to download anything except JPEG samples from this site.”
Movies would be removed from the data set if they were missing any of this information.
If a movie met any one of five criteria, the movie would be listed as insider source.
But McDaniel said he hopes this research will benefit others who want to expand upon these findings.
“One of the goals of this study was to make this repeatable,” McDaniel said.
Officials from the MPAA disagree with the AT&T researchers and their findings.
Matthew Grossman, director of Digital Strategy for the MPAA, said they saw many flaws in this research.
“The authors relied heavily on a single, unnamed ‘content verification site’ to identify which movies were available online,” Grossman said.
According to McDaniel, their lawyers advised them to exclude the name of the site. But McDaniel believes the one site used was representative of those on the Internet.
In the limitations section, the study said “the content verification site we used appears to remove entries for particularly poor copies, which are often posted earlier than higher-quality copies, adding some bias to our analysis.”
Grossman said this means movies recorded with a camcorder were eliminated from the study because they “are generally the worst copies of movies.”
If these movies were included in the study, the 77% would have been significantly decreased, Grossman said.
In a recent Reuters/Hollywood Reporter article, McDaniel also said, “The data does show that the screener copies are contributing to Internet piracy.”
He added in the article that the research limited itself to one file-swapping network and content verification site.
“The problem could be even wider than we show because there are other networks,” McDaniel said.
Grossman also said AT&T’s term of an insider was too broad.
“We consider an insider someone involved with the direct making or distribution of a film,” Grossman said. “If the projectionist screens a movie for a friend and he records it, we don’t consider that an insider in the movie industry.”
The movie industry has taken steps to help prevent digital piracy of movies on the Internet.
On Sept. 30, president and CEO of the MPAA Jack Valenti announced in a news release that the member companies of the MPAA and their subsidiaries would not send out screeners for awards consideration.
Almost a month later and after much criticism, the MPAA reversed their decision and agreed to send out screeners in videocassette format with procedures to protect them.
Grossman said studios also have taken measures to protect their movies.
The MPAA, along with movie studios, increased security at both test screenings and pre-theatrical screenings.
“Studios use metal detectors and bag searches to prevent camcorders from entering the theater,” Grossman said.
Other measures include implementing security during transportation of a film print for further production work, and utilizing forensic watermarks which would electronically source where movies come from.
Grossman said the movie industry is not suing individuals for downloading copyrighted movies, but it still remains a possibility.
“We have watched the music industry,” Grossman said. “It’s having a huge impact on their industry.”
Grossman remains uncertain if suing individuals would affect the movie industry like the music industry in terms of sales. But he is confident taking legal action against those who essentially steal from the studios is more advantageous.
“If studios find pre-released copies of a film online, the studios work with federal law enforcement agencies so they (the studios) can provide them (law enforcement) with evidence,” Grossman said.
According to a Los Angeles Times article, Kerry Gonzalez, a 24-year-old New Jersey insurance underwriter, pleaded guilty for posting a bootlegged copy of an incomplete “The Hulk” movie online.
Gonzalez was sentenced to six months home confinement and three years probation. He also has to pay a total of $7,000 in fines. Grossman said, “Pirates continue to seek out and post higher quality files once the initial damage is already done.”
Even though the only contact between the MPAA and AT&T Labs was the MPAA’s request for the study, McDaniel said he would not mind meeting with their officials to discuss this research.
In an a Reuters/Hollywood Reporter article, McDaniel said he wants to help the movie industry identify and understand their problems.
“There are a lot of emotional arguments out there,” McDaniel said. “The more information we get, the sooner we can get past these problems.”