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Beyond the Burg: MPAA finds ‘human error’ in 2005 study

Students account for dramatically lower losses than reported, group says

A 2005 study by the Motion Picture Association of America, which represents the interests of the American movie industry, recently discovered a mistake in a 2005 survey that it had been using to push anti-piracy legislation through Congress.

The report, conducted by independent research group L.E.K., found that the movie industry lost roughly $6.1 billion on average to piracy. However, the study also found that 44 percent of the domestic losses to piracy came from college students who often have high-speed internet on campuses.

In a statement released to various education groups by the MPAA, the association reported that a “human error” in the survey caused the percentage of domestic losses to be too high. Instead, the MPAA now reports that college students are only responsible for roughly 15 percent of losses.

Since 2005, the MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America have repeatedly used the 44 percent statistic to push universities around the country to increase measures combatting illegal file sharing. Last year, seven students at the College were brought to court by the RIAA, a similar group that represents the music industry, for illegal downloading, a case that was thrown out by a federal district court. In addition, legislation currently in the Congress, if passed, would force all colleges and universities to prevent illegal file sharing.

However, since the discovery of the error, skepticism has increased as to how much of an impact college students have on the movie industry. Mark Luker, vice president of Educause, a nonprofit group that furthers learning through information technology, believes that the new figures show that students really do not have much of an impact on domestic losses as originally thought.

“The 44 percent figure was used to show that if college campuses could somehow solve this problem, then it would make a tremendous difference,” he said. “[Now], any solution on campus will have only a small impact on the industry itself.”

Luker also pointed out that the study does not account for the roughly 80 percent of college students nationwide who live off-campus and are not using college networks to illegally download. He concludes that 3 percent is a more likely estimate for the percentage of domestic revenue loss in the motion picture industry to college populations.

MPAA has taken steps to correct the error and plans to hire a third party to confirm the proper numbers. However, the MPAA believes that the reduced number is still significant and colleges must take further precautions.

The mistake has also led many to believe that the movie industry has been unfairly biased toward college students.

“Illegal peer-to-peer file sharing is a society-wide problem,” Terry Hartle, vice president of the American Council of Education, said. Hartle also pointed out that colleges will focus on the problem, but more laws and strict rules are not necessary.