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MPAA starts new crackdown on movie piracy, takes down 9 sites
The new crackdown, called "Operation In Our Sites" was announced at Disney (of course it was). This whole thing rubs me the wrong way. ICE is part of Homeland Security, and acting as police for private movie studios hardly seems like a Homeland Security issue. Also, shutting down streaming movie sites, even if you seize their assets (as ICE has), is almost a futile pursuit. ICE says it will take a year for a new site to grow as big as the ones they just shut down, but I'm betting at least 2 will start up for every one they close.
Apparently, pharmaceuticals, games, music and other software are next on the ICE hit list.
[via CNBC]
Comments
26
Subscribe to commentsMuffin_manJul 1st 2010 6:48AM
Noooo ninjavideo!
xionxxxxJul 1st 2010 10:19AM
What happens if the servers are hosted in somewhere like China? The Department of Homeland Security doesn't have the authority to seize those assets or conduct raids in China, and good luck trying to get the Chinese to crackdown on it's own piracy problems.
JordanJul 1st 2010 10:22AM
I'm sure half of these sites will just pop back up under different names and different domains. That's why this whole thing is funny. As hard as they try to knock sites down, they're just going to come back. The demand is there, the will is there. It's the same reason alcohol prohibition failed and the current war on drugs is failing: if you have demand and the will, they will come.
jonJul 8th 2010 8:17AM
Kevin: "Eh, they're not. I don't agree with these tactics, but they're enforcing existing laws. Disagree with what they're doing, but let's not be intellectually dishonest with blanket non-statements like that."
The problem is that they are not a law enforcement agency. They are a private company.
Alicia C.Jul 1st 2010 12:36PM
I understand this. I'm a movie lover and used to go the movies every Saturday morning to get some alone time. It was great. But then I discovered movies online. I stopped going to the theater. The DVD rips were great too. I'd connect my laptop to my tv and just watch movies that way. I'd become a full on pirate.
Then I just watched the tv shows online now because I hate the commercials. I then got guilty and subscribed to netflix.
Aaron2010Jul 2nd 2010 10:28AM
You report this crackdown like it is a bad thing... I hardly think that you or your bosses would be happy if someone spoofed your parent company AOL's servers and started hosting an ad-free version of DownloadSquad. If download squad is happy to dump its advertisers and stop paying its writers I'd like to see how long it will last.
Don't be a hypocrite. You like stealing movies because you think free is better, and you don't see who it is hurting. The answer is that it hurts our whole economy and exploits one of the few things America is still great in... our creative and artistic abilities. We have invested a lot of time, education and money to create our artistic community and your discounting of it is a shame.
As to why the Federal Government is involved; violations of IP law are a federal crime. Expect higher enforcement and higher prosecution of theft. If you really like seeing movies cheaply get a netflix subscription. It's only like $10 a month. And, as for songs, buy them for less than a dollar from Amazon, iTunes, whatever... but honestly, if you can't afford $1, maybe you should go and listen to the songs at the library for free until you get a job.
Stop whining about anti-piracy efforts, stop pirating, and support your country and the creative people around you who work hard to make content that improves your life.