BitTorrent-Based Internet Piracy Does Not Hurt U.S. Movie Sales: Study
As the movie and music industries continue to bemoan internet piracy -- and push for internet-censoring laws like SOPA, PIPA, and the TPP to curb illegal file sharing -- a new academic study has come out that debunks a major belief about piracy and profit loss. 
In "Reel Piracy: The Effect of Online Film Piracy on International Box Office Sales," researchers from Wellesley College and the University of Minnesota came to some not-so-starling conclusions (h/t TorrentFreak.)
The researchers decided that the introduction of BitTorrent in 2003 has, in fact, impacted box office sales abroad -- by at least 7 percent -- but that piracy has actually been prompted by distributers' own manipulation of the movie markets.
Check it out: The researchers say that the delay between flicks' release in the U.S. and when they come out in theaters abroad basically creates a market for pirated films.
In other words, if there weren't such a long wait, people wouldn't seek shady ways of satisfying their demand.
The study also found no proof of piracy-based, box office sales losses in America.
Follow Victoria Bekiempis @vicbekiempis.
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