It’s good to know that the FBI, ICE, and MPAA are working diligently to prevent the movie industry from losing billions of dollars of revenue to piracy through entirely practical, pragmatic means, isn’t it? I’ll tell you, I have long wanted to bootleg a movie, but every time I come close to hitting the record button on my double-deck DVD copier, I encounter this message and stop dead in my tracks:
This has been very helpful in stopping me from pirating DVDs and Blu-Rays, because it instantly makes me think about the consequences, which otherwise I’d be totally oblivious to. But sometimes I still think about it. At night, I dream of how sweet the forbidden fruit of piracy would taste. So, it was with great relief that I discovered that the FBI, ICE, and MPAA announced today that they will be adding two new, non-skippable warnings before every home video feature presentation. Take a look at these beauties after the jump!
Because two badges are more threatening than one.
In all seriousness, I am highly sympathetic to the copyright industry’s (vastly overblown but still legitimate) claim that piracy has cost the U.S. economy 360,000 jobs, $16 billion in lost wages, and $2.6 billion in lost taxes. I believe that piracy is downright wrong, hurting both the artist and the investor who makes the artist’s work possible.
But give me a break. All that doubling the amount of annoying messages one can’t fast-forward through on a Blu-Ray is going to do, ironically, is make people more inclined to buy pirated copies without said messages!
This doesn’t come anywhere near SOPA in terms of moronic approaches to stop piracy, but it won’t do a lick of good. It’s time for the film industry and the MPAA to start embracing more inventive solutions to the problem. Apple was able to make an impressive dent in domestic music theft with iTunes — it’s time for Hollywood to do the same.
Make sure to stock up on the old versions of your favorite Blu-Rays and DVDs while they still only have one message. You can support Critic Speak in doing so by following this link to Amazon.com.
Source: Digital Trends