The Movie Industry Tries to Shapes Its Online Future

Hollywood honchos aiming to win the war on movie piracy have technology on their side. These days, it's pretty tough to download a clear, clean copy of your favorite flick. But that's changing fast. The film industry learned a valuable lesson from the Recording Industry Association of America's legal war on file swapping through peer-to-peer networks — and it's taken a number of steps to stave off a similar battle. Last week, for example, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced that it's breaking a long tradition of sending out "screeners" for the upcoming awards season. Dozens of films — packaged with on-screen warnings against theft — are normally sent out to hundreds of voters who select winners from Academy Award nominees. But the films end up in the hands of many who weren't intended to have them. MPAA CEO Jack Valenti was quoted as calling the move part of "a determined commitment to combat digital piracy and to save movie jobs in the future."