[Reader-list] Anti piracy

[Moslem Quraishy]

it may be interesting who are working on piracy. read and enjoy

	

*/_INTRODUCTION_/*

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and its international 
counterpart, the Motion Picture Association (MPA), estimate that the 
U.S. motion picture industry loses in excess of $3 billion annually in 
potential worldwide revenue due to piracy. Due to the difficulty in 
calculating Internet piracy losses, these figures are NOT currently 
included in the overall loss estimates. However, it is safe to assume 
Internet losses cause untold additional damages to the industry.

To combat these staggering losses, MPAA/MPA, on behalf of its member 
companies, directs a comprehensive international anti-piracy program. 
Established domestically in 1976, the program works to: implement and 
strengthen existing copyright protection legislation, assist local 
governments and law enforcement authorities in the investigation and 
prosecution of piracy cases, initiate civil litigation on behalf of its’ 
member companies against copyright infringers, conduct education 
outreach programs regarding the harmful effects of piracy.

Worldwide, MPAA/MPA anti-piracy activities have helped support 
legitimate markets that struggle to compete with pirate businesses. 
Pirate activities undermine every aspect of the legitimate filmmaking 
business since legitimate retailers cannot possibly compete fairly with 
pirate business. Pirate operations do not have the average expenses 
associated with the cost of doing legitimate business. Piracy negatively 
affects every rung on the ladder including the studios that invest in 
the film, the distributors, the retailers and foreign and local filmmakers.

To battle the problem, in 2000, the MPA launched over 60,000 
investigations into suspected pirate activities, and more than 18,000 
raids against pirate operations in coordination with local authorities 
around the world.

The MPAA/MPA directs its worldwide anti-piracy activities from 
headquarters in Encino, California. Regional offices are also located in 
Brussels (Europe, Middle East and Africa), Mexico (Latin America) Canada 
and Hong Kong (Asia/Pacific)*.*

*/_

THE ECONOMIC PICTURE

_/*

Moviemaking is an inherently risky business. Contrary to popular belief 
that moviemaking is always profitable, in actuality, only one in ten 
films ever retrieves its investment from domestic exhibition. In fact, 
four out of ten movies *never* recoup the original investment. In 2000, 
the average major studio film cost $55 million to produce with an extra 
$27 million to advertise and market, a total cost of over $80 million 
per film. No other nation in the world risks such immense capital to 
make, finance, produce and market their films.

To recoup such enormous investments, the industry relies upon a 
carefully planned sequential release of movies, first releasing feature 
films in cinemas, then to home video, and then to other media. This 
release sequence not only provides the best financial return for 
studios, but also provides consumers with choices as to how they wish to 
view movies, and when. This carefully planned release sequence, which 
includes intervals for each specific media known as "distribution 
windows", are vital to the health of the industry. When piracy of a film 
occurs at any point in the release sequence, all subsequent markets are 
negatively affected.

One real-world example of piracy’s devastating impact on the legitimate 
marketplace is with the 1999 release of the film Star Wars: Episode 1 – 
The Phantom Menace. Pirate copies of the film (created by using 
camcorders in US theaters) flooded the Asian marketplace while the film 
was still in U.S. theatrical distribution. When the film opened 
legitimately in Asian theaters, attendance was far below expectations. 
In addition, home entertainment retailers lost vital business in the 
home video window due to the availability of pirated copies. In this 
case, piracy affected legitimate theatrical distributors, exhibitors and 
local businesses.

Today, U.S. films are shown in more than 150 countries, and American 
television programs are broadcast in over 125 international markets. 
However, piracy affects all films. Pirates steal creative works 
regardless of national origin, and the MPA fights to create a safe 
environment for both the works of MPA member companies, as well as other 
audiovisual entertainment.

*/_

THE LAW

_/*

The Copyright Act of 1976 gives the U.S. some of the strongest 
anti-piracy legislation in the world. The Act was amended in 1982, 
substantially increasing the penalties for the illegal duplication of 
copyrighted material, making such offenses felonies on the first 
offense. Copyright owners may also file civil lawsuits against copyright 
infringers, and the government may file criminal charges. Tough new 
United States Sentencing Commission guidelines have reinforced these 
penalties. The Communications Act of 1984, and later amendments provide 
comparable penalties and remedies for cable TV and satellite pirates.

Today, more than 80 nations have copyright laws. MPAA/MPA and its 
affiliated organizations work to strengthen these laws, when necessary, 
and suggest appropriate penalties as part of copyright reform. In some 
parts of the world where copyright laws are weak or nonexistent, 
successful charges have been brought against pirates under other 
statutes, such as receiving stolen goods, trademark violations, 
smuggling, and failure to pay custom duties.

In addition, intellectual property relations between the US and most 
foreign countries are governed by an array of multilateral treaties and 
conventions as well as bilateral agreements, including the Universal 
Copyright Convention (UCC) and the Berne Convention.

Lastly, various trade agreements also ensure the free flow and 
protection of intellectual property among nations. The MPA encourages 
foreign governments to abide by, and fully implement, important 
agreements such as the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property 
Rights (TRIPS) agreement and the World Intellectual Property 
Organization (WIPO) treaties.

*/_TYPES OF PIRACY_/*

*OPTICAL DISC PIRACY*

Optical Disc Piracy is major threat to the audiovisual sector. Pirate 
optical discs, which include Laser Discs (LD), Video Compact Discs (VCD) 
and Digital Versatile Discs (DVD), are inexpensive to manufacture and 
easy to distribute. In 2000, over 20 million pirate optical discs were 
seized, and by comparison, 4.5 million videos were seized worldwide in 
the same period.

Unlike traditional analog piracy, a digital pirated disc is as pure and 
pristine as the original. In addition, a production facility can churn 
out a huge volume of illegal discs in relatively short time. To 
illustrate this, an average illegal videocassette duplication facility 
with 100 VCRs can, in a 10 hour period, produce about 400 pirated 
cassettes, while pirates with the right CD pressing equipment can 
produce thousands of perfect VCDs or DVDs daily.

The MPA supports the introduction of effective measures to control the 
spread of optical disc piracy, such as licensing requirements for 
optical disc manufacturing facilities and the tracking of the import and 
export of manufacturing equipment. Strengthened cooperation among 
customs and enforcement authorities worldwide to share information 
relating to transnational operation of organized criminal enterprises 
engaged in production, export, or import of illicit optical discs is 
also critical.

*

INTERNET PIRACY

*

Online motion picture piracy is the unauthorized use of copyrighted 
motion pictures on the Internet. It is illegal to sell, trade, lease, 
distribute, upload for transmission, transmit or publicly perform motion 
pictures online without the consent of the motion pictures’ copyright 
owner.

Online piracy is a relatively new phenomenon, and, unfortunately, a 
growing trend. The MPA Worldwide Internet Anti-Piracy program 
investigates all forms of online piracy including: Downloadable Media, 
Hard Goods Piracy, Streaming Media and online offerings of illegal 
Circumvention Devices. The MPA is working closely with the online 
community to prevent the unauthorized use and distribution of film 
industry product on the Internet.

*

Downloadable Media

*

Downloadable Media refers to digital files that allow for motion 
pictures to be compressed and uploaded for direct download onto a 
computer. Pirates use Downloadable Media formats to illegally offer and 
distribute motion pictures to other Internet users. Typically, the 
pirate host will use illegal VCD copies of motion pictures to create 
digital copies that are recorded into a computer file. Using online 
communication avenues, including chat rooms, Internet Relay Chats (IRC), 
FTP sites, newsgroups, File Swapping Utilities (FSUs) and Web sites, the 
pirate offers these files to other Internet users who then download the 
motion picture file onto their own computers.

*

Hard Goods

*

Hard goods piracy refers to the illegal sale, distribution and/or 
trading of copies of motion pictures in any format, including 
videocassettes and all optical media product. Illegal hard goods are 
sold on web sites, online auction sites such as eBay and Yahoo!, and via 
e-mail solicitations.

*

Streaming Media

*

Streaming media refers to the transmission or transfer of data that is 
delivered to the online user or viewer in a steady stream in near real 
time. Similar to hard goods and downloadable media, It is illegal to 
stream copyrighted content without the express authorization of the 
copyright holder.

*

Circumvention Devices

*

A circumvention device is any physical medium or digital file that 
allows for the circumvention of content protection devices put on films, 
videos, discs, etc. to secure the copyrighted content. One such 
Circumvention Device is the unauthorized, so-called software utility 
DeCSS. Any person that has the DeCSS utility can use it to break the 
copy protection on DVDs making it possible for motion pictures in DVD 
format to be decrypted and illegally copied onto a computer’s hard-drive 
for further distribution over the Internet or otherwise, in perfect, 
digital format. Other common circumvention devices include "black boxes" 
and other illegal signal theft devices and macrovision defeators.

*

The Law

*

Online piracy is covered by the same laws that govern other forms of 
piracy. In addition, the US government recently amended federal 
copyright statutes to specifically address Internet copyright issues and 
enhance the protection of Intellectual Property online through the No 
Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act 
(DMCA).

For more information on online film piracy, please see the MPAA web page 
section "Protecting Copyright in the Courts".

*VIDEOCASSETTE PIRACY*

Videocassette piracy is the illegal duplication, distribution, rental or 
sale of copyrighted videocassettes. In recent years, the MPAA/MPA 
shifted its investigative focus onto the illicit duplicating facilities 
or "laboratories" that are set-up to create and distribute pirated 
videocassettes. These facilities are often times capable of producing 
hundreds of thousands of illegal videocassette copies each year. These 
copies are then distributed to a variety of outlets including swap 
meets, co-operating video dealers and street vendors. The pirate product 
is often packaged in counterfeit videocassette boxes that resemble 
legitimate packaging.

*Camcording:* Pirates use hand-held video cameras to record motion 
picture films off of theater screens and then copy these films onto 
blank videocassettes and optical discs for illegal distribution. These 
illicit copies are not only distributed to pirates in the US, but also 
shipped overseas and distributed through illegal channels even before 
the film’s international theatrical release.

* *

*Screeners:* Illegal copies are sometimes made from legitimate advance 
copies used for screening and marketing purposes.

* *

*Back-to-back Copying:* A "back-to-back" copy is a pirate videocassette 
made by connecting two VCRs and then copying an original video onto a 
blank cassette.

*

Identifying an Illegal Video

*

The absence of any of a series of indicators can help point to pirated 
cassettes, including: the lack of special markings on the plastic 
cassette, low quality labeling, tape length that does not correspond to 
the film’s running time, or the absence of special colored gates on the 
cassette. Most importantly, pirate videocassettes are ALWAYS of inferior 
quality to an original. Consumers are cheated into purchasing sometimes 
shoddy,

unwatchable product where the sound is garbled and the graphics are 
poor. Videocassettes can also be analyzed on special electronic 
equipment to determine if they are counterfeit as well as to identify 
the source of the piracy.

*

THEATRICAL PRINT THEFT

*

Theft of a 35 or 16 mm film print from a theater, film depot, courier 
service or other industry-related facility for the purpose of making 
illegal copies is one of the most serious forms of piracy. This type of 
theft allows the pirate to make a relatively high quality videotape from 
the theatrical print, which then serves as the master for the 
duplication of unauthorized videocassettes. Fortunately, this type of 
theft is extremely rare due to the difficulty in obtaining the prints 
illegally and also in transferring the print to another format, such as 
videocassette.

*

SIGNAL THEFT

*

Signal theft refers to the act of illegally tapping into cable TV 
systems as well as receiving satellite signals without authorization. In 
addition, pirates have made businesses out of supplying consumers with 
illegally tampered cable decoders or satellite descramblers. 
Internationally, the problem becomes more acute when programs not 
licensed to a particular country are pirated from satellites and then 
re-transmitted in that country either by cable or broadcast TV.

*

BROADCAST PIRACY

*

Like signal theft, broadcast piracy is also defined by piracy that 
occurs on over-the-air broadcasts. However, instead of stealing signals, 
the illegal act may be the on-air broadcasting of a bootleg 
videocassette of a film or the on-air showing of legitimate films or 
television programs *without permission from the copyright holder*.

*

PUBLIC PERFORMANCE

*

Unauthorized public performances refer to situations where an 
institution or commercial establishment shows a tape or film to its 
members or customers without receiving permission from the copyright 
owner. This includes "public performances" where an admission fee is 
charged as well as those that are simply offered as an additional 
service of the establishment.

*

PARALLEL IMPORTS

*

Parallel imports describes the importation of goods authorized for 
manufacture or distribution in the exporting country but imported 
without express authority of the copyright or trademark owner. (Parallel 
Importation may or may not be lawful under local laws). Generally 
parallel imports undercut the domestic market by being available prior 
to authorized release in that market.

*/_COPY PROTECTION TECHNOLOGIES _/*

Many entertainment companies use copy protection technologies to protect 
their films against theft and some delivery systems for film content 
already use some form of copy protection, including DVDs (which use the 
Content Scrambling System), PPV, dedicated DSL set-top boxes, digital 
encryption encoding of satellite signals and videocassettes (which 
contain Macrovision).

Copy protection benefits consumers as well as the industry because 
without these safeguards, the industry would not be able to release 
their high-quality digital content for fear of widespread and rampant 
piracy. For instance, with PPV, because of the copy protection, there is 
a level of assurance that the movies won’t be copied freely so movies 
are offered at a very reasonable price considering the cost of making 
the product.

The motion picture industry has pursued those who distribute devices 
that break copy protection in any format. While no technology has yet 
proven foolproof, the industry continues to implement protection 
technologies which raise the threshold of difficulty and expense for the 
pirate and therefore help reduce piracy.

*/_

REGIONAL OVERVIEWS:

_/* *

NORTH AMERICA

*

In 2000, approximately 350,000 illegal videocassettes and 4,000 VCRs 
were seized. To combat this problem, the MPAA initiates over 600 
investigations into suspected piracy in the U.S. each year and at any 
one time has approximately 400 active cases. The MPAA maintains a 
toll-free anti-piracy Hotline number (1-800-NO-COPYS) in the U.S. for 
retailers and consumers to call if they suspect piracy. In addition, 
complaints can be directed to the MPAA email hotline at hotline at mpaa.org 
<mailto:hotline at mpaa.org>.

The majority of camcording in theaters in the US is conducted out of the 
New York City area. In addition, this is where the majority of 
large-scale video laboratories are located.

It is a violation of federal law (17 U.S.C. 106(1)) to distribute, rent 
or sell illegally duplicated copies, even if the copies are made by 
someone else (17 U.S.C. 106(3)). The Communications Act of 1934, as 
amended, (47 U.S.C. 605) and related statutes also prohibit the 
unauthorized reception of films via satellite or cable TV. Copyright 
infringement and violation of the Communications Act are felonies under 
federal law and carry maximum sentences of up to five years in jail 
and/or a $250,000 fine. Both laws also provide for copyright owners to 
seek civil damages.

State laws relating to video piracy are not copyright laws per se. 
However, various states have so-called "truth-in-labeling" laws and 
other statutes that can be effectively used to prosecute film and video 
pirates.

Forty-five states have "True Name and Address" statutes which can be 
used to combat video piracy. These laws impose criminal penalties for 
the rental or sale of video cassettes that do not bear the true name and 
address of the manufacturer. Video pirates who fail to identify 
themselves as the "manufacturer" of illegally duplicated cassettes 
violate these statutes. In some states these laws are currently first 
offense misdemeanors and the MPAA is seeking legislation to upgrade the 
violations to felonies.

*

ASIA/PACIFIC

*

The MPA operates anti-piracy programs in 13 countries in the 
Asia/Pacific region, estimating that its Member Companies lost in excess 
of $718 million in potential revenue regionally in 2003. The predominant 
piracy threat in Asia-Pacific is optical disc piracy, with hundreds of 
millions of illegal optical discs being produced, many of which are 
exported to other parts of the world.

In 2003, 84 percent of pirate optical discs seized globally were seized 
in the Asia/Pacific region. This included 98 percent of pirate VCDs and 
75 percent of pirate DVDs. Recently, syndicates of pirates producing and 
distributing smaller volumes of illegal DVD-Rs – the region’s fastest 
growing pirate format – from homes and/or small business premises have 
emerged as a difficult-to-detect and growing problem.

An even greater concern is the connection in this part of the world of 
organized crime to pirate syndicates, which makes battling optical disc 
piracy more difficult, and dangerous.

In 2003, the MPA operations in the Asia-Pacific region investigated 
nearly 15,500 cases of piracy and assisted law enforcement officials in 
conducting nearly 13,000 raids. These activities resulted in the seizure 
of approximately 44 million illegal optical discs, and the initiation of 
almost 9,100 legal actions.

Notable hubs for optical disc piracy in Asia/Pacific include China, 
Malaysia and Taiwan. China’s piracy rate is among the highest in the 
world, at 95 percent, and has increased in each of the past three years. 
Losses of potential revenue to MPA Member Companies last year due to 
piracy were $178 million and losses of potential revenue over the past 
three years were in excess of $500 million. Although China’s leadership 
has pledged to significantly reduce piracy, enforcement and local 
government will are lagging behind.

Malaysia, while still a leading source of exported pirate optical discs 
to other countries, is making strides in its fight against copyright 
theft. Recently, the country’s copyright law has been strengthened, with 
criminal penalties increased and enforcement officers given the power to 
arrest suspected copyright thieves. In 2003, enforcement officers 
conducted 12 surprise factory raids and more than 2,700 combined 
anti-piracy raids, resulting in the seizure of more than 2.8 million 
illegal discs.

In Taiwan, while the Taiwanese authorities have made positive 
developments in enforcement, particularly raids against optical disc 
factories, these efforts must be sustained and extended to other areas 
of enforcement, particularly the Internet. Taiwan needs to accomplish 
more in the area of legislation for optical disc licensing and the 
control of optical disc manufacturing equipment. Recent amendments to 
Taiwan’s Copyright Law raise fines, increase jail sentences and appear 
to be a step in the right direction, but the language passed by the 
Legislative Yuan is substantially weaker than had previously been 
approved by the Executive Yuan and is deemed insufficient by industry 
representatives.

Minimum penalties were deleted, significantly reducing deterrence. The 
2003 amendments also failed to extend any protection against the 
circumvention of Technological Protection Measures, which are essential 
for the proper development of e-commerce and content on the Internet. 
Legislation that would have remedied these deficiencies and others 
failed to be enacted prior to the closure of the latest legislative 
session in June 2004 and remains pending. It will be important to ensure 
that effective further legislative amendments are completed, that 
enforcement is achieved from the perspective of the rights holders and 
that regular monitoring is used to keep the process on track.

Technologically sophisticated Japan and Korea represent the future of 
piracy in Asia, since high broadband Internet penetration in those 
countries permits computer users to download copies of films via 
peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. Japan is leading the region in the fight 
against P2P piracy, having launched prosecutions against the developer 
of a P2P network and several network users.

In Australia, increasing broadband penetration, together with consumer 
willingness to download illegal films presents a growing challenge. This 
challenge is being addressed through a focus on consumer awareness 
campaigns and a strong push for changes in legislation facilitated by 
the recent Australia-US Free Trade Agreement.

In Australia the industry has worked successfully with Customs to slow 
the tide of manufactured illegal discs entering the country from Asia, 
and is working with the police to address the corresponding increase in 
DVD-R burning and distribution of illegal discs, most openly at market 
stalls around the country. Persistent parallel importation of film 
industry products, especially DVDs, also adversely effects the 
legitimate theatrical and video markets in Australia and provides a 
ready source of ‘masters’ for illegal burning operations,

*

EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA (EMEA)

*

The MPA operates 31 anti-piracy programs in this region.

Traditional video piracy remains the major problem in the region despite 
increased seizures of pirated optical discs and the rapid spread of 
pirate activities on the Internet.

Turkey now faces the largest pirate VCD problem in Europe. The problem 
has moved from one of exclusively imported products to a situation where 
pirate VCDs are also being produced in-country. Turkey's legislation, 
enforcement mechanisms and court system are inadequate to curb pervasive 
piracy. To compound matters, a general amnesty in April, 2000, nullified 
all 174 criminal cases that had been initiated against pirates following 
pre-April 1999 raids.

On the policy level, the European Parliament is undertaking an important 
examination of new threats to the legitimate audiovisual sector 
including optical disc piracy and Internet piracy. The MPA looks forward 
to expeditious action by the EU on providing the necessary framework to 
fight piracy in these new forms. In addition, the MPA continues to fight 
for speedy ratification and implementation of the WIPO treaties and 
TRIPs standards.

Internet piracy is currently most notable in Germany, while "Smartcard" 
and "black boxes" present acute problems for the legitimate cable 
industries in the UK and other parts of Europe.

In addition, despite recent progress, Russia continues to have one of 
the worst piracy situations in the world. In 2000, the Russian 
Anti-Piracy Organization seized over 655,000 pirate videocassettes and 
over 171,000 pirate CD-ROMs containing films in MPEG4 format. These 
seizures point to sophisticated organized criminal groups controlling 
the duplication and distribution of pirate product. Russia has continued 
to do little to address wholly inadequate criminal enforcement against 
copyright infringers.

The Middle East has traditionally been plagued by inadequate sentencing 
for copyright violations. However, the MPA has noticed that some Middle 
Eastern Governments have been taking such violations more seriously.

*

LATIN AMERICA

*

The MPA operates anti-piracy programs in 14 countries in Latin America. 
Video piracy continues to be the main source of piracy in this region. 
In many countries piracy is linked to organized crime units, thus 
complicating piracy investigations and enforcement.

Brazil, the largest market in the region, also has one of the highest 
piracy rates, with piracy losses topping $120 million in 1999. It is the 
position of the MPA that the Brazilian Government has, to date, 
demonstrated inadequate commitment and attention towards protection of 
Intellectual Property rights.

Signal theft is common in many Latin American territories, while 
Internet piracy has not yet posed a real threat due to lack of bandwidth 
in the region.