For those of you on college campuses following this sad saga:
----- Original Message ---------------- Subject: Re: MPAA admits its statistics are fullof...ummmm...errors > This is the famous study that MPAA has been waving around but has > refused to show anyone the basic data and methodology. Indeed, in the > fall of 2006, Dan Glickman promised to deliver a full copy of the study > to then Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter. As of yesterday, the staff was > still waiting for the study. > > So we're now told by the MPAA: opps there are some flaws, and our 44% > loss due to college students is only 15%. They still refuse to recognize > the fact, as noted in the AP story below, that 80% of student live > off-campus and use commercial internet services, bringing the number > down to 3%. They other fascinating number in the MPAA/LEK College > Summary slides is that claim - without giving any reasoning - that > college students substitute 2.4 times that of "average" downloaders. > Last time I checked college students had far less disposable income than > "average" working stiffs. At the every least, I can't see them > substituting 2.4 times. But even if that number were cut in half, that > would mean the "college problem" amounts to 1.5% of their "losses." > > There are several ironies at work here. First, college network > administrators treat P2P illegal activity very seriously. Many already > have policies and educational activities in place. Second, the MPAA has > managed to convince the House Education Committee to put in an unfunded > mandate in the College Accessibility and Affordability Act. > > Jim > > > Here's the AP story: > > MPAA Admits Mistake on Downloading Study > > By JUSTIN POPE - 15 hours ago > > Hollywood laid much of the blame for illegal movie downloading on > college students. Now, it says its math was wrong. > > In a 2005 study it commissioned, the Motion Picture Association of > America claimed that 44 percent of the industry's domestic losses came > from illegal downloading of movies by college students, who often have > access to high-bandwidth networks on campus. > > The MPAA has used the study to pressure colleges to take tougher steps > to prevent illegal file-sharing and to back legislation currently before > the House of Representatives that would force them to do so. > > But now the MPAA, which represents the U.S. motion picture industry, has > told education groups a "human error" in that survey caused it to get > the number wrong. It now blames college students for about 15 percent of > revenue loss. > > The MPAA says that's still significant, and justifies a major effort by > colleges and universities to crack down on illegal file-sharing. But > Mark Luker, vice president of campus IT group Educause, says it doesn't > account for the fact that more than 80 percent of college students live > off campus and aren't necessarily using college networks. He says 3 > percent is a more reasonable estimate for the percentage of revenue that > might be at stake on campus networks. > > "The 44 percent figure was used to show that if college campuses could > somehow solve this problem on this campus, then it would make a > tremendous difference in the business of the motion picture industry," > Luker said. The new figures prove "any solution on campus will have only > a small impact on the industry itself." > > The original report, by research firm LEK, claims the U.S. motion > picture industry lost $6.1 billion to piracy worldwide, with most of the > losses overseas. It identified the typical movie pirate as a male aged > 16-24. MPAA said in a statement that no errors had been found in the > study besides the percentage of revenue losses that could be attributed > to college students, but that it would hire a third party to validate > the numbers. > > "We take this error very seriously and have taken strong and immediate > action to both investigate the root cause of this problem as well as > substantiate the accuracy of the latest report," the group said in a > statement. > > Terry Hartle, vice president of the American Council on Education, which > represents higher education in Washington, said the mistakes showed the > entertainment industry has unfairly targeted college campuses. > > "Illegal peer-to-peer file-sharing is a society-wide problem. Some of it > occurs at college s and universities but it is a small portion of the > total," he said, adding colleges will continue to take the problem > seriously, but more regulation isn't necessary. > > -----Original Message----- >On Behalf Of Steve Worona > Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2008 7:12 AM > To: lawfuluse at lists.publicknowledge.org > Subject: MPAA admits its statistics are full of...ummmm...errors > > For those who haven't seen it yet: > > http://www.pr-inside.com/group-revises-figures-on-how-much-r398676.htm > > and > > http://insidehighered.com/news/2008/01/23/mpaa > > So the 44% was really 15%, and it was all due to "human error". So this > means -- what? -- it wasn't the dog? But let's not be too harsh; > remember, the writers are on strike. > > And then there's the four-fifths[*] of students who live off campus and > use commercial ISPs, not campus networks. So this brings the 15% down to > 3%. Yes, that's right: If we did away with 100% of all campus > file-sharing, we'd solve 3% of the MPAA's problem. And yet the MPAA > continues to press Congress to require campuses to deploy expensive, > disruptive, intrusive, and yet completely ineffective "solutions". > > Maybe we'd do better with the dog. > > Steve > > [*] As opposed to the MPAA's figures, this is based on unbiased market > research: > <http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=354> >
