Paramount Pictures says that, in the months following the theatrical release of Star Trek, the media company tracked more than five million IP addresses that downloaded one of six camcorded copies of the movie. The first was in Russian, but it was followed by editions from the Philippines, the Ukraine, Spain, Germany, and finally the United States. Who does Paramount blame for this? Pretty much the entire Internet, it seems, including the Google.com, youtube, Bing, Yahoo, and, of course, millions of 'Net users. "Just five years ago, one had to be computer literate and exceedingly patient to pirate movies," Paramount wrote to the Federal Communications Commission on Friday. "Today, literally anyone with an Internet connection can do it. Clunky websites are being replaced by legitimate looking and legitimate feeling pirate movie websites, a perception enhanced by the presence of premium advertisers and subscription fees processed by major financial institutions." Piracy, Paramount warns, "has advanced from geek to sleek." All the more reason why content providers "must have the legal and regulatory flexibility to use technological tools in partnership with Internet service providers to stem the tide of online copyright theft." The letter does not elaborate on what kind of "technological tools" Paramount would like to use.
