Google's partner in China, Shenshen Xunlei Networking Technologies is under scrutiny for allegedly encouraging piracy according to the Motion Picture Association.
"We have been watching [Shenzhen Xunlei Networking Technologies] for some time and we have observed that like many file sharing networks/enablers in China, the content available through them includes copyright-infringing versions of Motion Picture Association member company films," says Mike Ellis, senior vice president and regional director, Asia Pacific, of the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
Ellis is not happy about Xunlei and wants Google to convince the company to respect intellectual property rights. "It is our hope that Google will influence its partner in a manner appropriate to a company with the stated philosophy of 'You can make money without doing evil,' he says. "From our perspective, copyright theft falls under 'evil.'"
Considering Google's trouble it has had with copyright issues concerning YouTube this latest news is not a real surprise. Google has not commented on the situation beyond saying they respect copyrights.
Ellis did not say if the MPA was planning any legal action against Xunlei.
The MPA projects that its member companies lost $280 million in China in 2005 and $1.2 billion in Asia-Pacific. The numbers are based on what consumers would spend if pirated film were not available.
The MPA is the international branch of the Motion Picture Association of America, the American film industry's lobbying group.
It will be interesting to see what Google does next. Will they be good or will they be evil?
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Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.
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Movie pirating
I do not agree with movie pirating and have never downloaded either movies or music.
However the amount of loss claimed by the MPA seems suspect.
Is this based on the number of downloads with the assumption that these would all have been sales instead?
If so, this is a false assumption.
I am a prolific buyer of movie DVD. I almost always wait for them to be on special offer for about $10 USD each or less.
I will not buy a movie, even one that I want, until the price has dropped.
But at $10 or so each I will buy 10-15 at a time.
By the same logic, these downloaders are "buying" these movies because the price is so low. I seriously doubt if more than 5% of them would have paid full price for them.
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