Dr. Bloom's Powerpoint presentation
Abstract:
The trading of pirate copies of
Hollywood movies on the Internet is becoming more common as bandwidth
to the home increases. The impact of this activity on the motion
picture industry is quite different from that seen by the recording
industry. Record companies see trading of music after release of a CD
and suspect that this piracy reduces sales of legitimate copies. The
pirates, in the case of music, are the legitimate customers
themselves. The movie industry on the other hand, sees unauthorized,
widespread distribution well before a movie is released on DVD and
often before the movie is released for exhibition in theaters. This
piracy has the potential to negatively impact box office receipts,
which in turn determine the total film revenues. In the case of
motion pictures, those responsible for the theft are often trusted
insiders, members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,
or sponsors. In this talk, we will discuss this problem and assess
the role of watermarking as a tool to help deter such piracy.
