Movie Downloading

While reading chapter 6 in the textbook about movies, I decided to write my blog this week about illegal movie downloading. Now known as pirating, the illegal copying and selling of movies, it is still a large problem facing studios today. File sharing programs make it so easy for a person to download a movie in a matter of seconds, new or old releases, and even movies that are still in theaters. I think that pirating movies is most popular with teenagers, and especially on college campuses. But why aren't teenagers, and even adults who participate in pirating, going to the theaters like they used to? In today's society I believe people do not have as much time to go see movies, as they are busy with school, work, and other activities on the weekends. But another great reason is the cost of movies. To buy a DVD, most prices range from $10-20, and to see a movie, prices are always on the rise ranging from $6-10 depending on age and the time of the showing. Instead of having to pay all of this money for two hours of pleasure,(not even, if the movie is bad), people are able to download a new movie and burn it onto their own DVD in less than 5 minutes. Besides the time convenience, downloading a movie is virtually free.
In fact, according to recent poll results shown in an article called "Pirate Movies no Big Deal Say Most Americans" on www.downloadsquad.com, 40% of Americans polled thought that downloading movies illegally was a serious offense. I don't think many Americans today realize how much money they are costing the business buy downloading these movies. Instead they believe that studios, actors, and theaters are all making more than enough money without them seeing or purchasing the movies.
Although the movie industry is trying to rid the world of those who illegally download movies, I don't think it will ever completely disappear. However, it can help reduce the numbers. According to the textbook, in 2003 the movie industry started to take a stand against the problem with advertisements to scare people from downloading, as well as encrypting DVDs, so people are not able to copy and share them. They also filed lawsuits against certain file sharing programs such as "Kazaa," but even so, new file sharing systems are created on a constant basis. It is like the music industry, although they shut down the biggest file sharing program "Napster," the problem is still occurring today through other programs.
I believe that if people continue to download movies, the business will have more money issues than they do at the moment. People are not realizing how big of a deal illegal downloading is, and wont unless they are prosecuted, which obviously cannot happen to everyone. Perhaps making a system such as making a system as highly publicized as I Tunes, where customers could download movies at a reasonable price, there would be a cut back in the number of illegal downloads. But until the industry figures out a plan, people will continue getting away with downloading these movies for free.