MPAA Shuts Down Community WiFi Because of 1 (ONE!) Illegal Download!

Not only do they disconnect hundreds of people because one person downloaded a movie but the MPAA had its self in full spin mode taking the opportunity to talk about it’s troubles and how they have to put up with such atrocities every day…. poor poor Hollywood – at least it would be if they were not posting record profits year after year.

COSHOCTON — A free service enjoyed by hundreds has been shut down due to illegal activity conducted by one individual.

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“It’s unfortunate that one person ruins it for those who use the service legitimately,” said Commissioner Gary Fisher.

About five years ago, the county made a free wireless Internet connection available in the block surrounding the Coshocton County Courthouse at 318 Main St.

It was disabled last week after someone used the wireless local area network address to illegally download a movie.

The county’s Internet Service Provider — OneCommunity — was notified by Sony Pictures Entertainment about the breach, and the county’s Information Technology Department was in turn notified by OneCommunity.

Elizabeth Kaltman, vice president of corporate communications with the Motion Picture Association of America, said movie piracy is something the industry fights everyday.

“It’s a very, very common occurrence all across the U.S., in towns big or small,” she said.

Part of it could be due to a generation that’s grown up with computers and the Internet.
“They’re used to instant access and instant gratification,” she said. “They have the philosophy ‘if it’s there, I can take it.’”

It’s not true. There are many sites out there offering illegal movie and music downloads, but there’s also a growing number of sites that offer video streaming legally. Those are available on the MPAA’s Web site, Kaltman said. In addition to the recognizable names such as Netflix and Blockbuster, Disney Video, Fox on Demand, Cartoon Network and others have joined the instant download move.

“There are a growing number of ways to get the information they want legitimately,” she said.

…

LaVigne has done some homework and found a program that would prevent the illegal downloads from happening in the future; however, it would cost the cash-strapped county about $2,900 to implement, $2,000 for equipment and then $900 annually for the filtering program.

Commissioners questioned whether the investment would be justified for the free service, but LaVigne said it could be put to use on the entire county system to monitor activity.

“It would be beneficial to both realms,” he said.

Apparently he didn’t really do his homework or he would have seen that those filtering technologies don’t work. Ah! You gotta love government incompetence and MPAA spin.

Read the rest of the story here

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