Some In The Press Realizing That Copyright Industry Claims Of 'Losses' From 'Piracy' Are Bunk

from the moving-on dept

Thu, Mar 24th 2011 3:58am — Mike Masnick

We've pointed to a couple of laughable new reports that were released by copyright industry interests in the past couple months, pushing claims of ridiculously high "losses" due to copyright infringement. The reports have been debunked, but part of the concern was that mainstream press, such as The Australian, were spreading these reports as fact. Thankfully, not everyone in the press falls for such questionable studies. The Sydney Morning Herald recently published a rather comprehensive look at all of these reports and studies, entitled: Piracy: are we being conned? It does a really nice job pushing back on all this industry-backed research, to point out that the story is more complex and nuanced that those fear-mongering claims make it out to be:

The Australian Institute of Criminology for one has been reluctant to take the industry at its word when it comes to piracy losses.
"Although these estimates provide a general indication of the scale of the problem, the validity of the data is open to some debate," the AIC wrote in its latest report on intellectual property crime in Australia.

The AIC has previously debunked claims that piracy was linked to organised crime and in a draft report leaked in 2006 said industry-provided piracy statistics were "self-serving hyperbole".

"The AIC's frustration was largely based on the fact that none of these groups will expose their reports to genuine peer review or analysis," said Kimberlee Weatherall, a senior law lecturer at the University of Queensland, who specialises in copyright law and is highly critical of the industry's piracy reports.

"When the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) looked into it at the request of US Congress, it expressed doubt about most of the industry-produced figures."

Piracy figures derived by the entertainment industry have also been heavily criticised in the US and Europe. In some instances, the industry has admitted to grossly inflating its numbers.

The article includes a lot more debunking of industry FUD. Nice to see that the press is finally realizing that claims that come from an industry looking for government protectionist laws to be adjusted in their favor can't necessarily be trusted.

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Filed Under: journalism, losses, piracy

42 Comments

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Yeebok (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 4:41am

The SMH put something out that was balanced ? Crikey.
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- abc gum, 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:28am
  
  Re:
  Looks to be fair dinkum.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 8:51am
  
  Re:
  Nice to see the Sydney Morning Herald employing young people. And a freetard, no less.
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  - mrharrysan (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 11:20am
    
    Re: Re:
    FUD ACTrollbot
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    - Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:27pm
      
      Re: Re: Re:
      Thought we were calling them "trolls without Souls" this week?
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Yogi, 24 Mar 2011 @ 4:52am

Pulitzer worthy?
These days, if a news outlet actually refers to facts in its reports instead of just rewording the press releases of various interested parties, it should probably be eligible for a Pulitzer.

Furthermore, here we have reporting that borders on the heroic - the newspaper actually takes issue with corporate press releases!! Who knows, maybe this will start a new trend in journalism...
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- DannyB (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:59am
  
  Re: Pulitzer worthy?
  They seem to be forgetting that their job is to regurgitate corporate press releases and political spin.
  
  It is the job of the riffraff Internet publications to investigate things and take issue with corporate and political spin.
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- Not really, 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:20am
  
  Re: Pulitzer worthy?
  Not really, this was the same publication that ran with the regurgitated press release in the first instance.
  
  The real investigation was done by journalists at Torrentfreak and Crikey, who called out the organisation, demanded transparency, and exposed the study for what it was.
  
  This story was simply a (welcome) regurgitation of their hard work, saving face when confronted with a stream of criticism for being industry shills.
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- chris (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 7:41am
  
  Re: Pulitzer worthy?
  it's a partial revolution:
  around the world, some journalists are looking into their pants - and finding something wonderful.
  their balls.
  http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/01/20/
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  - Jay (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:27pm
    
    Re: Re: Pulitzer worthy?
    I remember this one. That was the best interview EVER!
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 4:56am

Self-Servicing Statistics, Inc.
Start from your intended result and work backwards! Makes every conclusion forgone! Need to find x to support y? We've got all the x you need!
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 4:57am

One more newspaper that is going to be labelled as "pro-piracy".

Queue smear campaign.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:01am
  
  Re:
  Speaking of piracy related bunk:
  
  http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/23/1930238/Limewire-Being-Sued-For-75-Trillion
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  - Jay (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:28pm
    
    Re: Re:
    Uhm...
    
    Mike already talked about that.
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FuzzyDuck, 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:05am

Judge: LimeWire damages 'Absurd'
Some judges aren't buying it either: http://mrte.ch/ay3
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- Steven (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 8:52am
  
  Re: Judge: LimeWire damages 'Absurd'
  I can't really get all worked up because a judge came to the conclusion that damages exceeding the worlds GDP creeps into the category of absurd.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 9:15am
    
    Re: Re: Judge: LimeWire damages 'Absurd'
    They think they're entitled to everything that everyone owns and more.
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  - Chargone (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 3:13pm
    
    Re: Re: Judge: LimeWire damages 'Absurd'
    well, given how often it seems that they miss this kind of fact....
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Michael, 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:24am

Wow
It is scary that it's news that a press organization is actually researching something to make sure it is correct.
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- Wabbit (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:30am
  
  Re: Wow
  My thought exactly. It seems like it's been decades since the major press outlets have done any serious digging/research for reporting that does not involve a political scandal.
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NickMc, 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:55am

Would be nice if perhaps The WSJ, NY Times, London Times and all the other major mainstream papers were to do something similar.
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- Hephaestus (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:40am
  
  Re:
  "Would be nice if perhaps The WSJ, NY Times, London Times and all the other major mainstream papers were to do something similar."
  
  The news papers have let go researchers, authors, and support staff. They really don't have the resources any more due competition for advertising from craigslist, and targeted online ads. They are seeing fewer and fewer people buying their paper due to online competition. Plus most papers are leveraged to the hilt due to consolidation. The current demographic that buys news papers is primarily the 45 year old and older crowd. As more and more people purchase "pads" (i or android) the trend to read news online will accellerate. The papers only have about 7 years left +- a couple years.
  
  Over which time you will see more and more regurgitated press releases as resources become more scarce at the papers.
  
  So good luck on your wish for them to do any sort of investigative reporting.
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Fickelbra (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:14am

Wow
You mean to tell me the industry that stands to gain from reporting exaggerated losses due to "piracy" is in fact, exaggerating those claims?!
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- The eejit (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:27am
  
  Re: Wow (may contain trollpoints)
  No, it's all the piracy apologist's fault, clearly! What are you, some kind of Pirate-Bay lover!
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- chris (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 8:01am
  
  Re: Wow
  You mean to tell me the industry that stands to gain from reporting exaggerated losses due to "piracy" is in fact, exaggerating those claims?!
  
  in other news: water is wet, the sky is blue, size matters, and bears do in fact shit in the woods.
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  - Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 8:53am
    
    Re: Re: Wow
    Oh you guys are right; piracy doesn't hurt anybody and never results in lost sales.
    
    uh huh.
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    - Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 9:45am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Wow
      I once ripped off a musician so badly they were forced to get a real job!
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    - The Infamous Joe (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 9:52am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Wow
      Competition hurts people *and* causes lost sales, too. Are you one of those no-good, competition-hating communists my grandpappy told me to shoot first and ask questions later?
      
      :)
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    - The eejit (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 10:07am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Wow
      IT results in no directly provable lost sales. The actions of corporations? They result in provable lost sales.
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    - mrharrysan (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 11:22am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Wow
      FUDboy strikes again!
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Delboy, 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:17am

Ha
$75 trillion WOW works out about 120k from every person on the planet. Hmm me-thinks someone has tampered with the decimal place. heh
That is quite a few trillion more than what the recording industry has earned since the technology was invented.

If I were the Judge, I would have laughed heartily in their FACE.
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- Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:37am
  
  Re: Ha
  Considering the average world income is about $8000, that's a lot to pay.
  
  But, I'd think 75 trillion would only be $12,000 per person.
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  - Steven (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 8:55am
    
    Re: Re: Ha
    He's mixing his figures. There were two numbers floating around, amount per person in the US and amount for person in the world.
    
    $12,000 = world
    $120,000 (or something like that) = US.
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    - harbingerofdoom (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 10:40am
      
      Re: Re: Re: Ha
      works out to 241,126.45 per us counted citizen (currently 311,040,116 per census bureau)and 10,857.27 for ever person in the world (6,907,811,402 also from census).
      
      10 grand per person in the world when there are people that would never see 10 grand as an entire family of 12 in theirs or thier childrens lifetimes combined.
      
      but no, nothing wrong with those number at all...nope...not. at. all.
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Joe Publius (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:53am

But, I'd think 75 trillion would only be $12,000 per person.

Wow, they ought to say that to the $0.00 worth of media that I have pirated in my house. Thanks to free software, and cheap and easy to use digital sales, I can say that I haven't had to run afoul of these laws.

But it is another indication of how ridiculous these allegations from the IP industries have become.
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Not That Chris (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:53am

So should we now expect Australia to find themselves at the top of the next Special 301 Report?
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Anonymous Coward, 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:53am

Actually, that story looks like they decides the industry bunk is bad because they decides to print someone else's bunk. I don't think the newspapers learned anything, I think they are just running with press release information done by the doubter side.

I don't think it is really any more helpful than running industry numbers blindly.
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- The eejit (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 10:09am
  
  Re:
  But the figures given by the VESTED INTEREST were clearly snake oil. These figures may still be snake oil, yes. but with less oil and more snake.
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- Lauriel (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 5:23pm
  
  Re:
  Equitable coverage of an issue is something that has been sadly lacking in Australian media to date. The closest they usually come to covering both sides of a contentious issue is in politics, and that is most often the paper or journalist slanting to one side or the other, rather than an unbiased coverage.
  
  Just the fact that they have regurgitated the opposing side of an issue is remarkable.
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Kris B, 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:58am

It all starts here...
If it weren't for open discussions on the topics in widely viewed blogs such as TechDirt, the 'heroes' in the story might not have had the gumption to investigate and report. Keep the discussion flowing!
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Overcast (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 8:46am

Would be nice if perhaps The WSJ, NY Times, London Times and all the other major mainstream papers were to do something similar

Yeah, they could claim that anyone reading news on another site is a 'stolen newspaper sale'. Makes sense...

To a moron smoking formaldehyde maybe.
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charliebrown (profile), 24 Mar 2011 @ 6:06pm

SMH Vs The Australian
Most newspapers here are owned by Rupert Murdoch, including, I believe, the Australian, but not, it seems, the Sydney Morning Herald. Think about it.
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