Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA) has criticized a recent report, commissioned by the pro-copyright group AFACT, which shows that the Aussie economy is suffering badly from movie piracy.
ARN reports:
“A damning report commissioned by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) on movie theft’s impact on the economy will do little to discourage film piracy online, according to Internet advocacy group, Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA).”
“The report titled Economic consequences of movie piracy claimed movie piracy cost the Australian economy $1.37 billion in lost revenue and 6100 jobs from July 2009 to July 2010.”
EFA questions the methodology of the study and thinks AFACT should focus on improving their products, rather than to complain about piracy.
“If this report is part of a new campaign to scare and shame Internet users away from digital downloads then it will not be very productive,” EFA’s Jacobs said. “AFACT should be focusing its efforts on improving on digital offerings rather than trying to scare people away and treating [downloaders] automatically as thieves.”
The purpose of these studies is not to decrease piracy directly, but to convince lawmakers and judges that the copyright industry requires better tools to fight it. In that, they have – sadly enough- proven to be quite effective.
