With no legal online download services available, illegal file-sharing is often their only option.There's an interesting article expected to be published in a forthcoming issue of Windows Middle East magazine that argues that film licensing restrictions have made illegal file-sharing in the Middle East the only real option with which to acquire movies online. Apparently due to film licensing restrictions, which tend to cover distinct geographical regions - most often the US and Europe - Western films such as Pulp Fiction or Shrek 3 cannot currently be licensed for online distribution to end users in the Middle East, meaning internet surfers here simply cannot download content legally online. "Due to the paid-for movie download market still being in its infancy, and as such online distribution licenses only covering the so-called 'developed' markets, net users here in this region don't currently have a moral, legal means of paying to download their favorite films," commented Matt Wade, the editor of Windows Middle East. The Windows Middle East team discovered therefore that the only option available to film buffs who are looking to download movie content there is to use illegally use P2P and file-sharing software. For all the reports the MPAA throws around about "calculated" losses due to piracy, it's reports like this that make me me even more suspect of their conclusions. Some countries and regions lack true consumer choice and some of the viewing options afforded other countries like the US, and so to say that the blame falls entirely on them for not being able to see a movie on the MPAA's terms is just silly. If the MPAA is serious about fighting piracy then it has to learn what the RIAA still can't figure out - give consumers what they want! Has capitalism become that difficult? Looking for more stuff to watch or download?
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