I’ve been reading various news stories, commentaries, and such about the whole MPAA vs. Piracy deal. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you must be living under a rock. I’m all for protecting intellectual property and copyright, but the way the MPAA, the RIAA, and even our own loving government are going about is not only unethical, but in some cases, it may be illegal and unconstitutional. Read on for this little rant.

For one, the MPAA’s constant intimidation into submission of sites that link to torrents of movies and other copyrighted material is absolutely unethical, and a poor business model to boot. Their use of phrases such as “You can click but you can’t hide” bring about an image of a tyrannical, monopolistic corporation… rather than an ethical business-like industry. Rather than go about things legally, they’ll intimidate these site owners with a lawsuit that they can’t possibly handle, and force them to shut down. I’m not saying that these site owners are right or wrong, but the lack of due process here is a crime in itself.

In a recent press release (why they can’t just use HTML and not Word format is beyond me), the MPAA blames BitTorrent for the recent piracy of Star Wars Episode III, rather than the person that leaked the film (note that allegedly, someone working for Lucas, who of course, works for the MPAA, leaked SW3 onto the internet) and the users that downloaded it. This is like blaming the gun instead of the killer for a murder. It’s absolutely ridiculous. You might as well blame HTTP for allowing child porn websites. You might as well outlaw walking, running, or riding a bike. Not to mention the fact that BitTorrent has actual legal uses (e.g. download a linux distro) or other large legal files.

Oh, and what about the raiding of a Norweigian linux coder’s home because he made software that would allow you to view DVDs on linux; alleging that the program would be used to pirate DVDs, although that was not at all the case, nor the intent of the developer. He was just an innocent linux and open source developer who wanted to watch DVD movies on linux. Of course, the MPAA would do things like this to intimidate and scare users.

I could also go on about how piracy is supposedly tied to terrorism (that’s right, if you pirate DVDs… the terrorists win!)… but I don’t think it’s really necessary.

I’m not saying that the MPAA has a hidden agenda here, but all of this makes me wonder. It seems the MPAA is not just intent on stopping pirates, but it wants to stop freedom on the internet and in technology. In MPAA and possibly other corporations minds, and even our own government, the only operating system we’d use is Windows, the only company in the world making movies is the MPAA, the only recording industry in the words making music is the RIAA. Open source would cease to exist. Innovation would cease to exist, and would only do so in the minds of those in big corporate offices. Note that I said that you can download a linux distribution with BitTorrent, and look how the MPAA is blaming BitTorrent for the leaking of Star Wars Episode 3.

The MPAA tries to convey this message that they are the good guys. But what they are really concerned about is what’s hurting their monopoly. They want complete control over the industry, and anything that seems like it might be a threat to that, is evil… in their eyes.