Jim Gianopulos: Fox CEO Wants To Boot Internet Pirates Offline

ATHENS, Greece — The chief executive of Fox Filmed Entertainment said Monday the U.S. should join France in cutting off the Internet connection of users who repeatedly download copyright-protected films.

CEO Jim Gianopulos said Internet piracy is the single biggest threat to the film industry worldwide, and independent films are the hardest hit.

"The bad news is that the Internet is big, and it's anonymous," Gianopulos told a news conference in Athens.

But he said Internet service providers can track down subscribers whose IP address – the unique number assigned to every computer that connects to the Internet – has been spotted downloading films illegally and issue warnings.

Gianopulos said punishing repeat offenders would help create "a level playing field" for filmmakers.

"If we can do that, it would be a big victory against piracy," he said, cautioning that taking away the small percentage of profit many films make threatens the industry.

Gianopulos said that it is equally important to inform young people about the problem of piracy.

"It is important to show them that there is a connection between what they're doing and theft, and what they're doing and people's jobs," Gianopulos said. He was in Greece for a lecture, and talks with Greek film industry professionals.

France has already created what it says is the first government agency to track and punish online pirates.

The European Parliament initially opposed efforts by European Union governments to cut off a user's Internet connection without a court order – but the two sides reached a compromise this month and EU lawmakers and governments agreed on new rights for Internet.

Film and record labels have heavily lobbied the 27-nation bloc, demanding better enforcement of copyright rules to protect profits that are shrinking in the face of online file-sharing, in which people swap music files without paying.

Comments

[rnotalone]

I hope none of the Internet Service Providers will cooperate with this greedy Rupert monopoly. And I hope they lose MORE MONEY! We should all say a silent prayer every night that Rupert lose money. Maybe the power of our prayers will work wonders and bring this sorrowful man down to our level so he can get a taste of what he's been dishing out. Creep!

[breal123]

nice

[american-dolt]

The single biggest threat to Films and everything else is Big Money.

[bongstradamus]

Its so true, the biggest obstacle for independent filmmakers is distribution, which for years was guarded and controlled by the industry.

Thankfully the internet allows for the immediate distribution of most media. It scares the crap out of the gatekeepers because they have no control over it. So their first instinct is to be draconian.

They'll come around. Its a fight they cant win. With the way the internet is shaping up into communities of people with similar interests, its become an easier way to get to targeted demographics. Theyll find that embracing the network and all of its ephemeral parts and bits of aggregated information and localized content pushing can actually strengthen their businesses.

[meede]

Looking at the picture, this_jerk looks like he's a member of the 'Family'.

[weatherwaxx]

I want to boot Faux News offline. And off cable. And off the planet.

Can't always get what you want...

[ClassicLeft]

If you've read any book on security you would realize how easy it is to spoof an IP address or use proxy servers.

Yes, internet is partially anonymous. I bet his next proposal will be a national internet ID card. (you know Republicans = Less Government only when convenient)

[bongstradamus]

Before we had big pipes that could sling movies and dvd images, there were lots of video games that were pirated. Well, mainly video games and a lot of porn really, at least back in the "floppy" days.

Anyhow, companies that made video games thought a successful title was one that sold $25M worth of boxes. That was a blockbuster game.

Today 10M people play World of Warcraft for roughly $15 per month. The rough math on that is something like $1.2B a year in subscriptions alone, not counting box sales.

The point of the matter is that the game industry changed its model and expanded their sales exponentially.

The answer isnt to boot customers offline across the planet. Its hooking them to your content and reeling them in with paid content and locked/encrypted playback. The models need to change. All of them. Retail sales have sunk. Movie attendance has sunk. Video rentals were gone before Bush. Broadcast ad revenues have left the toilet altogether. Cable revenues sustain largely because of targeted ad buying.

A new model embracing the nature of the internet gives you targeting down to the street corner. Subscription revenue alone could mean 100M a month or more in revenue. There are many ways to be thinking outside of this box, but sending users to jail or taking them offline just reduces your market, and ultimately, your profit. You also look like a total jerk and it turns people off to your company.

[gnomic]

a great business plan. stay in the past. this is the guy who would still be selling buggy whips.

[Gover]

Because if I couldn't download Transformers 2 and turn it off half way through because of how awful it was I would be sure to pay $10 to find out it's that bad right?

Right?

[alexunlv]

O RLY? o.O.

[studmoose]

I believe the French law does not rely on a burden of proof.

Just the accusation alone gets the users plug pulled.

[Paw1]

Exactly, SM. I imagine, however, that in the US, your agreement with your ISP contains language saying it can terminate service unilaterally at any time, for any reason or no reason. As CL says below, for any tracking routine that is created, the truly tech savvy will create a work around and distribute to the masses. That's not the way to change behavior. Subscription is the only way to go. Create a studio consortium that charges a monthly fee for unlimited downloading of movies, that subscribers can keep but not redistribute. Same can be done with the record labels.

[GLT21]

Again, the movie companies are trying to control the internet. First the tried it with the VHS then with DVDs What next, news coverage.
If the movie companies don't like it. They can bite my shinny metal as ss. I can survive without movies but not porn.