Do you watch movies online for free?

If you do, have you thought about what you are doing to the movie industry and to the economic status of your country? Maybe you are thinking about how lucky you are that you did not need to pay for the movie, especially if it turns out to be a flop.

Movie piracy is a major threat to the movie industry, because given the choice, everyone would prefer to watch a movie free of cost rather than pay for the movie, thus also reducing opportunity cost of watching a movie in terms of money.

The film business has been hindered by movie piracy. In 2005, overall movie theft had an expected loss of $20.5 billion in yearly income.

Film piracy affects people both in the movie business and in commercial enterprises associated with the film business. In 2005, piracy in films cost the U.S. economy an expected 141,030 jobs in the movie industry. Representatives in film and related commercial ventures lost an expected $1.90 billion in income as an after effect of movie piracy.

In 2005, movie piracy cost U.S. elected, state and neighborhood governments $837 million in duty incomes. In 2005, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) contended that they were losing $3 billion in film industry deals because of piracy. In an industry that has an income of $10 billion yearly, this is a huge concern.

Assuming that the film business takes in $10 billion per year in film industry deals, we could say that piracy costs the film business $3 to 4 billion every year, developed from both scholarly and MPAA research. That said, there are many people who watch movies for free instead of going to the theater or buying a DVD because they cannot afford it and therefore this amount of $3 to $4 billion is possibly over stated, but there still is a loss.

The loss of cash influences more than just the movie producers and studios. This is because the movie industry helps the economy grow. As more movies are produced, more jobs are provided such as electricians, hairdressers, carpenters, actors, writers, food industry and other positions.

Pirating fewer movies implies that studios will get more cash, which prompts more motion pictures to be made and utilizes other industries. This will add more employments to the United States and will help increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Every industry has a specific market, but the entertainment industry is not specific. It is for all the age groups, and so the market for this industry is much bigger than any other industry, and when this industry is growing it can add more job opportunities than many other industries.

There are already laws present to combat the issue of movie piracy, but we can still access free movies online.

One possible effort that could be taken to stop piracy is if the government ordered the internet to block any known website of movie piracy. It would help reduce piracy because most people watch movies online for free instead of buying a pirated DVD.

Movie piracy seems like a harmless act, but hurts our economy more than we think.