The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Hollywood's premier trade group, is trying out a new strategy in their war against web piracy.
This week, the MPAA launched a new website WheretoWatch.org that advertises all the ways legal content can be obtained online. The simple one page website links to website where legal movies and TV shows can be viewed or searched, along with a brief description of each service.
Some of the major criticisms against Hollywood's war on piracy has been on the industry's perceived less than enthusiastic support for the web and web based entertainment services, which leads to the lack of legal options. The MPAA believe this isn't the case and wants to use WhereToWatch.org to set the record straight.
"There have never been more ways to access movies and television legitimately online, and those platforms continue to grow and develop thanks in large part to a copyright system that encourages innovation, risk and growth," said current MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd. "The companies I represent are committed to continuing to create and develop the best ways for audiences to enjoy the entertainment they love."
But critics will still argue that delayed release dates, the arbitrary nature of what is and isn't available on services like Netflix, and the way content expires and disappears without any real pattern, all things that are the result of direct intervention by Hollywood studios, still plague the very services that the MPAA is touting as real alternatives to piracy.
Others will point to the US-centric nature of the website, despite the web piracy problem being anything but, as most of the services listed on the website are not available outside of the United States.
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