Our final reading points out that the demise of Megaupload
resulted in an adverse fashion to how one might assume that it would on the
motion picture industry. MPAA took down Megaupload as if it were threatening to
steal all of its profits unrightfully. However, it is my understanding that
when researchers in Munich and Copenhagan conducted a study on how films
profitted before and after Megaupload’s demise they found that Megaupload was
helpful in building interest in people to actually pay to see the movie (and
perhaps to purchase it’s merchandise) after their intial download. Each viewer
of a Megaupload movie would then tell other people about the film and that
would generate a profitable buzz around it. Research showed that a dip in
profits for MPAA, after Megaupload, occurred with movies that wouldn’t
initially draw large crowds in the first place because they no longer had the
buzz generated by Megaupload to send people to the theater. With blockbuster
films they found that Megaupload had kept people out of the theaters. That is
where Megaupload was hurting the industry. So the MPAA had merit in taking them down. The MPAA
continue to warn people against “rogue sites” like Megaupload on their website today.
I never heard of
Megaupload before this article. How do I think piracy
should be dealt with? Just let it be. Let there be piracy. But that’s not
realistic because then pirates would be robbing not just producers but actors
and editors and everyone affiliated with the film. Right? I don’t know. I guess
for pirates, just fine them, shut them down, do what you have to do to save
your business against them, but don’t send them to jail.
