I was in Chicago this last week and noticed that the nice folks at the MPAA have started up a bit of an advertising campaign to education people on the problems with downloading movies. Here is the ad, and my commentary follows.
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Full Size MPAA Initimdation Ad
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MPAA Intimidation Text
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My initial thought was that whoever actually made this ad for them should be shot. This does not treat the people they’re addressing as customers. Instead it reuses the failed strategy of the RIAA in assuming that everyone is a thief. Calling people thiefs will not make them your friend. Now, to the MPAA’s credit, they actually make a decent product but I digress. They also fail to make the distinction between the legal downloading of movies and the illegal downloading of movies. Many movies are available free on the internet from sites such as the Internet Archive. In any case, this appears to be the first salvo in a war that MPAA cannot possibly win. If they pursue this path they will end up just as hated as the RIAA. While there has been some bright spots in hollywood, much of hollywood is becoming boring sequels. Furthermore, they’ll soon begin to feel more of the wrath of copyright clearance from the broken system. Oh to be an independent nation.
As a bit of an aside, the MPAA has a copy of their print intimidation ad available online.