Do Pirate Sites Really Make That Much Money? Um... Noby Mike MasnickTechdirt Jan. 24, 2012 |
Chris Rufo Discovers Who is Flooding The Small Town of Charleroi, Pennsylvania With Haitian Migrants
WATCH: New Film 'Atrocity Inc' Exposes How Israel Lied About October 7th to Justify Genocide
Biden on Netanyahu: "He's a F--king Liar"
Netanyahu: Trump Called to 'Congratulate' Me On War With Hezbollah
Trump Visits Lubavitcher Rebbe's Grave With Ben Shapiro for October 7th
One of the key refrains from the supporters of PIPA and SOPA in pushing for those bills was about how "foreign pirates" were profiting off of American industry. However, as we've suggested plenty of times in the past, there's little evidence that there's really that much money to be made running such sites. Even more amusing, of course, is that the MPAA/RIAA folks have to both argue that "people just want stuff for free," and that these sites are raking in money from subscription fees at the same time -- an internal contradiction they never explain. I've asked MPAA officials directly (including on stage at the Filmmaker's Forum event last year) that if these lockers are really making so much money, why doesn't Hollywood just set up their own and rake in all that cash. The only answer they give, which doesn't actually answer the question, is that it's cheaper for cyberlockers since they don't pay royalties. But that's got nothing to do with why the Hollywood studios don't get this money for themselves. Of course, the real reason -- somewhat implicit from the MPAA's comments -- is that it knows these sites don't make that much money. Read More |