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Old School Piracy Hurting Economy

Addressing the issue of illegal DVD`s and its impact on the American economy, the Institute for Policy Innovation released its survey this week based on information it has received from the Motion Picture Association of America. Results are pointing to a $20 billion loss in wages, jobs, business and taxes, every year.

Some of us might lose some sleep over downloading the latest "Lost" episode, but the IPI are telling the public that downloaders are only a small part of the problem. To the surprise of many, piracy is mainly due to the "old fashioned" method. It is believed that two thirds of pirated films are produced following a movie secretly filmed with the help of hand held cameras inside movie theaters, and the remaining one third of the piracy pie is due to internet downloading and sharing.

Many sectors that are connected to the movie making industry are hurt from the illegal distribution of films, and these include video retailers, theater operators, lawyers, janitors and suppliers. Putting this into numbers, the IPI concluded that American workers had $5.5 billion in lost earnings, over 140,000 jobs were not created and movie studios lose 10 per cent of potential revenue.