Piracy robs Los Angeles
02/18/2007 22:16 News
Bootlegged items cost nine sectors 100,000 jobs and
$5.2 billion in sales in 2005, a report finds.
Pirates are pillaging Los Angeles' economy.
At least that's what a publicly funded study to be released today concludes, making the case that bootleg DVDs, CDs, prescription drugs and other merchandise such as handbags cost nine industries across Los Angeles County more than 100,000 jobs and about $5.2 billion in lost sales in 2005.
Conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., the study lists the motion picture industry as accounting for about half the losses — $2.7 billion — followed by the recording industry, which sustained $850 million in losses, according to the report.
"Every dollar lost to piracy represents wages lost for the hardworking families that make the Los Angeles entertainment industry the envy of the world," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.
As the study's authors acknowledge, the numbers are little more than educated guesses about an activity that is inherently difficult to track. Purveyors tend to avoid government surveys, and data are typically scarce or unreliable. Analysts have noted, for example, that someone buying a pirated DVD on a street corner may not necessarily have done so in lieu of purchasing one at a Best Buy.
Full Article click Here
Pirates are pillaging Los Angeles' economy.
At least that's what a publicly funded study to be released today concludes, making the case that bootleg DVDs, CDs, prescription drugs and other merchandise such as handbags cost nine industries across Los Angeles County more than 100,000 jobs and about $5.2 billion in lost sales in 2005.
Conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., the study lists the motion picture industry as accounting for about half the losses — $2.7 billion — followed by the recording industry, which sustained $850 million in losses, according to the report.
"Every dollar lost to piracy represents wages lost for the hardworking families that make the Los Angeles entertainment industry the envy of the world," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said in a statement.
As the study's authors acknowledge, the numbers are little more than educated guesses about an activity that is inherently difficult to track. Purveyors tend to avoid government surveys, and data are typically scarce or unreliable. Analysts have noted, for example, that someone buying a pirated DVD on a street corner may not necessarily have done so in lieu of purchasing one at a Best Buy.
Full Article click Here
