Audio Video News

Films as physical commodities have begun to disappear, thanks to companies like <A HREF="http://www.harmonicdata.com/">Harmonic, Inc</A>. Eventually, most films shown in theaters&mdash;and many films viewed in homes&mdash;will be delivered not as film reels or video discs but as digital signals beamed from satellites.

The <A HREF="http://www.mpaa.com">Motion Picture Association of America</A> has issued a strident warning that "a growing global epidemic" of Internet movie piracy is harming the motion picture industry. Citing a survey of 3600 Internet users in 8 countries conducted by online research company <A HREF="http://otx2.otxresearch.com">OTX</A>, the MPAA reported that one in four Internet users (24%) has downloaded a movie and that 17% of those who had done soreported lowered attendance of theatrical films or purchases of licensed DVDs or videotapes.

The <A HREF="http://www.mpaa.org">Motion Picture Association of America</A> (MPAA) is pushing for a crackdown on offshore industrial piracy, a phenomenon that is a way of life in many countries. The trade group estimates that the American video industry loses as much as $3.5 billion annually to illegal copying worldwide.

Hollywood studios' efforts to win large blocks of voters in the annual Academy Awards may have backfired on them. Free DVD screening copies sent out to voters may have found their way into the hands of offshore pirates, possibly costing the industry millions of dollars in lost revenue.