Feds hampered by incomplete MPAA piracy data | Media Maverick - CNET News

Feds hampered by incomplete MPAA piracy data | Media Maverick - CNET News: "Last week, the GAO issued the results of its year-long study. Researchers there found that many of the claims copyright owners have made about piracy's effects on their businesses were based on unreliable research. The findings sent shock waves through tech and media circles and may have damaged the credibility of the MPAA, the trade group of the six largest film studios as well as other copyright owners."

"But missing from the report was how LEK came to the dollar figures. The report did not detail the methodology or what assumptions LEK researchers made. Apparently, the GAO wasn't the first to ask to see the MPAA and LEK's details about its report. Ken Fisher, a reporter from the blog Ars Technica, noted in 2006 that the MPAA hadn't disclosed important background about the research."

"In 2008, more than 18 months later, the MPAA acknowledged that because of human error, the study had made erroneous statements. Instead of 44 percent, the films pirated by college students were responsible for only 15 percent of the film industry's revenue losses."