Illegal version of Star Wars III hits the internet hours after world-premiere

Friday, May 20, 2005

Hours after the premiere, files purporting to be computer-viewable copies of the movie Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith were available on internet filesharing networks.

The film, which is one of the years most eagerly anticipated, has already been downloaded by over 16,000 people through the BitTorrent file-sharing network. Some torrent downloaders reported being able to download the movie at "DVD-quality" as early as 11pm Eastern on May 18th, an hour before the US premiere. The versions available thus far are however "workprint copies." As such these copies have a large time indicator on the top of the screen.

Although Lucasfilm has not yet commented on the issue, the Motion Picture Association of America has condemned it, telling the media, "There is no better example of how theft dims the magic of the movies for everyone than this report today regarding BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of 'Revenge of the Sith.'"

It should be noted that the Bit Torrent network, by design, does not provide files itself. It only allows computers using it's program to form connections with other Bit Torrent computers on the internet to provide files on each individual computer. Thus the MPAA's statement of "BitTorrent providing users with illegal copies of 'Revenge of the Sith'" is factually incorrect.

Despite the downloading, the latest Star Wars movie grossed a record breaking $50 million dollars it first day. [1]

Sources

Adam Pasick. "Final 'Star Wars' film leaked to the Internet" — Reuters, May 20, 2005
Matthew Borghese. "Star Wars III Bootleg Hits the Internet" — AHN, May 19, 2005
Gordon MacMillan. "Star Wars Revenge of the Sith is leaked on the internet" — Revlotion, May 20, 2005
Steve Gorman. "'Star Wars' grosses record $50 mln in first day" — Reuters, May 20, 2005

Share this:

This page is archived, and is no longer publicly editable.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Got a correction? Add the template {{editprotected}} to the talk page along with your corrections, and it will be brought to the attention of the administrators.

Please note that due to our archival policy, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.

Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.