Say That Again

Say That Again

by Mike Masnick





MPAA Explains Its Bad Math: It Was Future Non-Existent Piracy

from the ooooh,-that's-all... dept

On Tuesday we wrote about the MPAA announcing that it had shut down a DVD copying plant and seized $30 million worth of DVDs and equipment. Just about everything in the announcement turned out to be wrong. The plant wasn't actually shut down at all. Also, the DVDs and equipment taken weren't valued anywhere near $30 million. While there's some dispute as to how much, the company says they were worth about $15,000. So, as the plant in question has been yelling loudly complaining about the MPAA's assertions (things that seemed to have taken the MPAA by surprise), the MPAA has decided to respond in the most amazing way. First, they brush off the mistake about the plant being closed saying that was just a mistake (sure it was...) and that the $30 million number represented an estimate of "the value of the DVDs that could be produced by the stamping machines that were seized." Say that again? In other words... if they seized anyone's computer with a CD writer or a DVD writer they could claim that they had seized millions in equipment based on the possibility that at some point in the future they might make illegal copies? It's stunning what the MPAA thinks they can get away with. They've learned that the press will basically take whatever they say and run with it, so why bother with the truth?

5 Comments | Leave a Comment..

 

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  1. No Subject Given

    by MPAA Lawyer Boy - Jun 23rd, 2005 @ 6:22pm

    The MPAA are a bunch of mobster lead goons.

    SCREW THEM.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  2. No Subject Given

    by Anonymous Coward - Jun 23rd, 2005 @ 11:29pm

    You forgot to mention that the company states that their business is actually legal.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  3. Re: No Subject Given

    by icon Mike (profile) - Jun 24th, 2005 @ 12:32am

    Thought we made that pretty clear in the original story...

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  4. Re: No Subject Given

    by Fuck the MPAA - Jun 27th, 2005 @ 11:29am

    Hey, don't insult mobster-led goons by comparing them with the MPAA.

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

  5. What happened to our supposedly "free" press?

    by Fuck the MPAA - Jun 27th, 2005 @ 11:31am

    Kinda makes you wonder, though, abou the press in our society today. Whatever happened to questioning authority? Why is it that everyone in the mainstream press simply can't (or won't) ask the hard questions?

    (reply to this comment) (link to this comment)

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