Final 'Star Wars' film leaked to Web

Found on CNN on Thursday, 19 May 2005
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"Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" has been leaked onto a major file-sharing network just hours after opening in theaters, at a time when Hollywood is increasingly concerned about online piracy.

At least two copies of the film, which was first shown in theaters in the early hours of Thursday, have been posted to the BitTorrent file-sharing network -- a new and increasingly popular technology that allows users to download large video files much more quickly than in the past.

The Motion Picture Association of America has been aggressive in going after Web sites that provide "tracker" links that enable BitTorrent downloads of copyrighted material, including six lawsuits this week against sites with links to TV shows.

According to Web site Waxy.org (http://www.waxy.org/), one print was leaked on Wednesday before the film was even released in theaters. The movie was time-stamped, suggesting it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening.

I can confirm this. Five days ago, I chatted with someone who had a hard time waiting for it. I joked and said that it is probably already available for download, and when I checked, it was. However, I didn't download and verify it (I'm not a SW fan at all), but I wouldn't be surprised if it was real. In fact, I would be disappointed if it wasn't online before the official release; that's a great promotion. And let's be honest: assume 100,000 people downloaded it. So what? Many millions run to the theaters (not to mention that most downloaders will go too). The "losses" are minimal; perhaps this even increases the revenues.