The documentary is produced by Julien McArdle, a 21 year old independent film-maker from Canada. He started interviewing people about their views on piracy and digital rights in November 2005. The resulting documentary is now available on DVD, and can be downloaded for free.
McArdle wanted to take an in-depth look at piracy today, and how it will evolve. “despite all the media frenzy on the piracy crackdowns, there’s been very little attention to the topic itself. At the very best, news reporters regurgitated the contents of an industry press release. There was nothing of substance, which is where this documentary fits in: we wanted to cover the issue in-depth,” we read on the documentary website.
McArdle interviewed several people including: a member of a scene release group, Susan Harper from Microsoft Canada, Michael Geist, Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa, Graham Henderson from the CRIA, and many others.
Shooting this documentary made McArdle realize that the piracy issue is not as black and white as many people believe. “This is such an incredibly complicated issue, and the scope of it goes really beyond pinning the blame on just one thing or whatnot”, he said, in an interview.
You can watch the documentary on Google Video (1 & 2), but I recommend to download the DVD. Not only does not only have better video quality, but it also includes many extras, such as commentary form the director, and several easter eggs worth watching.
The official documentary website is over here, and don’t forget to donate if you like what you see.