Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 09:42:59 -0700
From: "Wong, Brian" <brianwong@xxxxxxx>
Subject: More on [IP] MPAA drops Oscar screeners
To: "'dave@xxxxxxxxxx'" <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Dave, this AT&T Labs study on sources of unauthorized motion picture copies
may be of interest. It was covered in a September 15, 2003 New York Times
article, and the issue of insider sources for pirated movies was a front
page story in the March 3, 2003 Wall Street Journal (excerpts below).
- Brian -
Analysis of Security Vulnerabilities in the Movie Production and
Distribution Process
Abstract
Unauthorized copying of movies is a major concern for the motion picture
industry. While unauthorized copies of movies have been distributed via
portable physical media for some time, low-cost, high-bandwidth Internet
connections and peer-to-peer file sharing networks provide highly efficient
distribution media. Many movies are showing up on file sharing networks
shortly after, and in some cases prior to, theatrical release. It has been
argued that the availability of unauthorized copies directly affects theater
attendance and DVD sales, and hence represents a major financial threat to
the movie industry. Our research attempts to determine the source of
unauthorized copies by studying the availability and characteristics of
recent popular movies in file sharing networks. We developed a data set of
312 popular movies and located one or more samples of 183 of these movies on
file sharing networks, for a total of 285 movie samples. 77% of these
samples appear to have been leaked by industry insiders. Most of our samples
appeared on file sharing networks prior to their official consumer DVD
release date. Indeed, of the movies that had been released on DVD as of the
time of our study, only 5% first appeared after their DVD release date on a
web site that indexes file sharing networks, indicating that consumer DVD
copying currently represents a relatively minor factor compared with insider
leaks. We perform a brief analysis of the movie production and distribution
process and identify potential security vulnerabilities that may lead to
unauthorized copies becoming available to those who may wish to redistribute
them. Finally, we offer recommendations for reducing security
vulnerabilities in the movie production and distribution process.
Citation
Simon Byers, Lorrie Cranor, Eric Cronin, Dave Kormann, and Patrick McDaniel.
Analysis of Security Vulnerabilities in the Movie Production and
Distribution Process. In Proceedings of the 2003 ACM Workshop on Digital
Rights Management, October 27, 2003, Washington, DC. [Paper also presented
at The 31st Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet
Policy, September 19-21, 2003, Arlington, VA.]
Full Text
* PDF (26 August 2003 technical report version, updated 13 September
2003)
http://lorrie.cranor.org/pubs/drm03-tr.pdf
* Final version to appear in ACM Digital Library, November 2003
http://lorrie.cranor.org/pubs/drm03.html
New York Times September 15, 2003
Hollywood Faces Online Piracy, but It Looks Like an Inside Job
By JOHN SCHWARTZ
When "Hulk" hit the small screen early, Hollywood hit the roof. Two weeks
before this summer's film adaptation of the angry green giant opened in
theaters in June, copies started showing up on file-sharing networks around
the world. The film cost Universal $150 million to make and distribute, but
anyone with a fast Internet connection, a big hard drive and plenty of time
could see it free.
<SNIP>
But the early debut of "Hulk" was not the work of the armies of KaZaA-loving
college students or cinephile hackers. The copy that made its way to the
Internet was an almost-complete working version of the film that had been
circulated to an advertising agency as part of the run-up to theatrical
release. And "Hulk" is not alone.
According to a new study published by AT&T Labs, the prime source of
unauthorized copies of new movies on file-sharing networks appears to be
movie industry insiders, not consumers. The study is "the first publicly
available assessment of the source of leaks of popular movies," according to
its authors.
Nearly 80 percent of some 300 copies of popular movies found by the
researchers on online file sharing networks "appeared to have been leaked by
industry insiders," and nearly all showed up online before their official
consumer DVD release date, suggesting that consumer DVD copying represents a
relatively minor factor compared with insider leaks.
"Our conclusion is that the distributors really need to take a hard look at
their own internal processes and look at how they can stop the insider leaks
of their movies" before taking measures that might hamstring consumers'
technologies and rights, said Lorrie Cranor, a researcher at AT&T Labs and
lead author of the study.
The production and distribution process provide a better choke point, Ms.
Cranor said, than antipiracy measures that could hamstring consumer
electronics devices and computer networks. "If you're not going to worry
about the insiders, it's kind of pointless to worry about the outsiders,"
she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/15/technology/15MOVI.html
(reqistration required)
PAGE ONE
In Pursuing Oscar Dreams,
Studios Give Pirates a Hand
DVD Copies Sent to Academy Yield
Perfect Bootlegs From Asia to Illinois
By ANNA WILDE MATHEWS, BRUCE ORWALL and KATHY CHEN
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
One day last week, Yungsheng Century Audio and Visual Center in Beijing
provided a textbook example of the growing piracy that movie companies
dread. For 25 yuan, or about $3, shoppers could buy a high-quality bootleg
DVD of New Line Cinema's "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" -- months
before authorized copies are set to be issued anywhere in the world.
But the source of the pirated material was unexpected: New Line itself. In
pursuit of Oscar nominations, the AOL Time Warner Inc. unit sent out
thousands of pristine "Two Towers" DVDs to members of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. Some of those discs, however, fell into the wrong
hands and became the digital blueprint for bootleggers who have copied the
film and distributed it both online and in shops abroad.
<SNIP>
The apparent triumph of Oscar fever over business sense is striking even to
Hollywood insiders. "Let's face it," says movie producer Marc Abraham, "what
other business would do this?"
Updated March 3, 2003 12:55 a.m. EST
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1046645977763796000,00.html?mod=home%5Fpa
ge%5Fone%5Fus
(subscription required)