Studios File First Wave of Suits
Against Online Illegal File Traders
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire) November 16, 2004 - The initial wave of lawsuits targeting online traders of illegally copied films has been filed in courts throughout the United States, the Motion Picture Association of America Inc. announced today. The civil suits against individual infringers cover copyright violations on major P2P networks and seek damages and injunctive relief.
"The motion-picture industry must pursue legal proceedings against people who are stealing our movies on the Internet," said MPAA President and CEO Dan Glickman. "The future of our industry, and of the hundreds of thousands of jobs it supports, must be protected from this kind of outright theft using all available means."
Under the Copyright Act, an individual can be liable for as much as $30,000 for each motion picture illegally traded over the Internet, and as much as $150,000 per motion picture if such infringement is proven to be willful.
"Litigation alone is not the solution," Glickman emphasized, "but it is part of a broader MPAA effort that includes education and new technological tools among other components. That's why I'm pleased to announce a public- outreach partnership with the Video Software Dealers Association and the availability shortly of free software to help people determine what music and movie files and P2P applications are on their computers."
The VSDA's members will bring the MPAA's anti-piracy ad campaign, "Rated I: Inappropriate for All Ages," to approximately 10,000 video stores nationwide. Beginning in December, those stores will play anti-piracy trailers on in-store monitors and display anti-piracy posters and counter cards.
"Video retailers are threatened with significant losses from illegal online file trading of movies and bootleg copies sold on the streets," VSDA President Bo Andersen said. "A key element of the strategy to confront this growing threat to our industry is to educate the public and change the culture from one of lawlessness to one of respect for the work and property of others. With their neighborhood locations and strong customer relationships, video stores are in an excellent position to educate millions of consumers about the problem and consequences of movie piracy."
The MPAA also announced the availability soon of a free program that identifies movie and music titles stored on a computer, along with any installed peer-to-peer file-swapping programs. Information generated by the program would be made available only to the program's user, and would not be shared with or reported to the MPAA or any other body. Armed with the program's findings, a computer user can remove infringing movies or music files, and remove any P2P applications.
"Our ultimate goal is to help consumers locate the resources and information they need to make appropriate decisions about using and trading illegal files," said Glickman. "Many parents are concerned about what their children have downloaded and where they've downloaded it from. They will find this tool to be an excellent resource."
The MPAA's www.respectcopyrights.org site will link to the download site for the Windows-compatible program when it becomes available. The MPAA plans to provide easy access to other such tools in coming months, as demand continues to grow for programs that protect computers from the deleterious effects of peer-to-peer software, including such common problems as viruses, Trojan horses and identity theft.
The MPAA also has moved on numerous fronts to fight the illegal camcording in theaters of motion pictures, a major source of the original pirated movie files found online. The MPAA has backed enactment of anti-camcording laws in 18 states and the District of Columbia. The MPAA has created customized versions of its anti-piracy trailers for theaters in 26 countries. The MPAA also has joined with the National Association of Theatre Owners to create a rewards program for theater employees who identify and halt illegal camcording.
The former St. Louis City Hospital, at Lafayette and 14th Street, is being redeveloped as "The Georgian" with more than 100 up-scale condominiums, offices and retail spaces planed by mid-2006.
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New Housing Construction Spurs St. Louis City Population
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) November 14, 2004 - The United States Census Bureau has increased its July, 2003 population estimate for the City of St. Louis, figure that City planners say finally reverses more than five decades of population loss.
"This is a watershed moment for the City of St. Louis," said Mayor Francis G. Slay in an announcement. "For more than 50 years, the City lost population. Even during the go-go '90s when almost every American city gained population, St. Louis continued to lose. But, now, for the first time in half a century, the City is adding population."
As was widely reported earlier this year, in the Census Bureau's 2003 interim population report, St. Louis lost 16,000 people since 2000, which would have been the largest drop of any large city in America. That figure has been widely quoted since, appearing in the news media more than a dozen times.
Given the strong residential construction and influx of new residents into the City, the number did not make sense. So, the City formally challenged the estimate.
"The census estimate did not make sense to us because of the incredible building boom going on in the City," Slay said. "We issued more building permits last year than in any other year in our history. There is new construction and substantial rehabilitation going on in just about every corner of the city. Projects that have languished for years, sometimes decades, are being built."
Everyone knows about the loft boom in Downtown. But, the residential boom is happening all over the City. For instance, since the 2000 census, more than 2,000 new or substantially rehabilitated homes were completed or are under construction in North St. Louis.
Further evidence of the growing demand for City living is property values. Since the 2000 census, the average sale price for a single family home in the City has risen by 54%.
The Census Bureau had calculated the 2003 number using the formula for counties. In the challenge, the City did a recalculation using one of the bureau's formulas for cities, which takes into account new construction. The Census Bureau agreed the "city" formula was more appropriate for St. Louis than the "county" method, accepted the challenge, and increased its 2003 population estimate for St. Louis. That means the official 2003 count is just over 348,000 - almost identical to the population count in the 2000 census.
The City's planning department believes the population was dropping through the 1990's. The trend continued into 2000 and early 2001. Beginning in mid 2001 we started seeing a large number of new residents moving into new housing all over the City. What started as a steady flow in 2001 became a torrent last year with no signs of letting up.
For a city that has lost population for the past 50 years, this represents a milestone. "We have attracted more than $500 million in residential construction in the last three years, a 150% increase over the previous three years," Slay said. "The reduction in crime in our City has attracted national attention. People are coming back to the City because it's such a great place to live."
Hispanics Becoming Formidable Economic Force
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire) November 14, 2004 - Hispanic households across America will sharply increase both their numbers and economic clout over the next ten years, according to a new study by the Conference Board.
The number of Hispanic households is expected to increase at a faster pace than that of any other group in the United States, continuing a demographic explosion that began several decades ago.
Today's 10 million-plus Hispanic households will soar to 13.5 million by 2010, up from less than 6 million in 1990. These households will control $670 billion in personal income six years from now, with Mexican-American households accounting for $409 billion of this total.
Households hailing from Central and South America will earn $107 billion by 2010, with Puerto Rican households controlling $65 billion. Cuban families will account for $32 billion, with the remaining $56 billion being earned by Spanish, Dominican and other Hispanic households.
Hispanic households tend to be younger on average than the U.S. population at large. Of the more than 10 million Hispanic households, 38 percent are currently headed by someone under 35, and an additional 25 percent are led by someone between the ages of 35 and 44 (the national average for homes with heads under 35 is 23 percent.) By 2010, the under-45 Hispanic market will increase to 8 million households, and its purchasing power will leap from the current level of less than $295 billion to $397 billion. In other words, $3 out of every $5 flowing to Hispanic households in 2010 will be in the hands of this younger-than-average segment.
"As the Hispanic market keeps growing both in size and buying power, companies in a wide variety of industries will enjoy significant marketing opportunities," said Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center. "But since this young, burgeoning market is extremely diverse, marketers should be aware of extensive demographic and economic differences among the Hispanic household population."
Survey Shows Americans Agree It's Better to Give Than to Receive
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire) November 14, 2004 - The holiday season is all about finding the perfect gift for those who matter most to us, and according to the MasterCard(R) SecureCode(TM) Holiday Shopping Survey conducted by Harris Interactive, the old saying is true - most U.S. adults (95 percent) believe that it's better to give, than to receive, the perfect gift.
The Survey found that not only do they want to give; many feel that it's important to find the perfect gift for those who matter most to them (72 percent). However, your chances of receiving the perfect gift are greater if the giver is female. Eighty-one percent of women believe it's important to find the perfect gift for someone, compared with 62 percent of men.
In addition to wanting to purchase the gift that will resonate with the recipient, Americans are clear about how they define the perfect gift. Survey respondents overwhelmingly say it should reflect the recipients' personality (83 percent). Large numbers also say the perfect gift should be "useful" (66 percent) and "creative" (60 percent).
"For those on the quest for the perfect gift, online shopping is the obvious choice, because that's where you can find just about anything for anyone," said Andrea Claster Greenspan, a corporate and personal gift consultant who shops for over a thousand gifts annually, and author of Modern Living, Modern Giving.
Yet nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of online shoppers indicated they often avoid making purchases online because of perceived security weaknesses and nearly half (46 percent) indicated that they'd be encouraged to shop online more often if merchants would incorporate additional security measures for payment.
"The good news for these online-but-wary holiday shoppers is that they can purchase with confidence, knowing they're getting an extra level of security when they shop at a retail site that uses MasterCard SecureCode," added Greenspan.
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