Analysis of security vulnerabilities in the movie production and distribution process

Unauthorized copying of movies is a major concern for the motion picture industry. While unauthorized copies of movies have been distributed via portable physical media for some time, low-cost, high-bandwidth Internet connections and peer-topeer file sharing networks provide highly efficient distribution media. Many movies are showing up on file sharing networks shortly after, and in some cases prior to, theatrical release. It has been argued that the availability of unauthorized copies directly affects theater attendance and DVD sales, and hence represents a major financial threat to the movie industry. Our research attempts to determine the source of unauthorized copies by studying the availability and characteristics of recent popular movies in file sharing networks. We developed a data set of 312 popular movies and located one or more samples of 183 of these movies on file sharing networks, for a total of 285 movie samples. 77% of these samples appear to have been leaked by ...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2003
• Where: DRM
• Authors: Simon Byers, Lorrie Faith Cranor, David P. Kormann, Patrick Drew McDaniel, Eric Cronin
• Keywords: DRM 2003, Movie, Unauthorized Copies, file Sharing Networks