Some filmmakers, represented by the U.S. Copyright Group (USCG), have taken legal action against 20,000 consumers. The filmmakers accuse them of sharing and downloading copyrighted material without permission.
Since the first lawsuit against pirates in 2000, only a few of them pirates were convicted. But the USCG warned that this is just the beginning. They will start more cases against individual consumers.
Piracy has amazingly increased in the last decades. Daily millions of films and songs are downloaded all over the world. The pirates are often very young, mostly between 16 and 24 years old. Filmmakers and musicians are fed up with illegal downloading. Everybody can download their work without paying for it. They definitely want to put an end to these illegal practices.
We all know that illegal downloading is a violation of the law yet we do it nearly every day. Why? We have the feeling that no one can catch us. Do you know people who are already accused of piracy? I don’t! There is no fear. So why should we stop downloading?
I understand the frustration of musicians and filmmakers, they don’t deserve this. But I think it’s already too late to stop it, piracy will only grow more. Those recent lawsuits will punish just a limited part of the illegal downloaders.
By Liesbeth Alliet
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/04/film_piracy.html
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