The ransom of success?
The low-budget independent film"T", or "Minesweepers" in French, received all the cinematographic honors: with five Oscars and as many prizes at the Venice Film Festival, the critical success is undeniable. Unfortunately, it only accumulated 16 million dollars at the American box office. To explain this failure with the public, an ideal culprit was found: pirates.
Indeed, the film was distributed on the web nearly five months before its theatrical release. This 0-day release caused hundreds of thousands of illegal downloads, which, according to the producer, led people to shun the film in theaters... Also, to recover some money all the same, the film's production company Voltage Pictures decided to spend in active mode by threatening tens of thousands Internet users who downloaded this film. 50 have already been contacted.
An action of such magnitude for a single film is unprecedented even among music rights holders accustomed to sending claims amicably by the thousands, and to condemn those who refuse to pay very heavy sums.
The process used here will however be the same: Voltage Pictures sent an injunction to American ISPs to reveal the identity of thousands of suspicious Internet users. According to the producer's lawyer, 75% of the ISPs cooperated, with ComCast awaiting the end of its procedure trying to counter the request. Once the identity is known, emails and letters requesting an "amicable" arrangement are sent to the presumed culprits with a settlement procedure. Those who refuse to pay risk the court box.
These actions in the field of cinema should accelerate across the Atlantic, since they are based on technology from the German company Guardaley IT which monitors torrent networks in real time. Lawyers for Voltage Pictures and representatives of this German company are currently in Cannes to discuss with other film producers and distributors the possibility of launching a massive legal campaign in the United States...
source: PC INpact
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