5 million Star Trek pirates vs. 1 FCC broadband plan - Ars Technica

• 5 million Star Trek pirates vs. 1 FCC broadband plan - Ars Technica

  tags: digital piracy

  • Paramount Pictures says that, in the months following the theatrical release of Star Trek, the media company tracked more than five million IP addresses that downloaded one of six camcorded copies of the movie. The first was in Russian, but it was followed by editions from the Philippines, the Ukraine, Spain, Germany, and finally the United States. Who does Paramount blame for this? Pretty much the entire Internet, it seems, including google.com, youtube.com, Microsoft's bing.com, yahoo.com, and, of course, millions of 'Net users.

    "Just five years ago, one had to be computer literate and exceedingly patient to pirate movies," Paramount wrote to the Federal Communications Commission on Friday. "Today, literally anyone with an internet connection can do it. Clunky websites are being replaced by legitimate looking and legitimate feeling pirate movie websites, a perception enhanced by the presence of premium advertisers and subscription fees processed by major financial institutions."