MPAA: Trying to Convince People that Something is Unethical

Okay, put on your nostalgia hats and think back to that time you went to go see the first Harry Potter movie in theaters with your parents.

Are you there?

Good. Now, I'm sure you only remember how cute Rupert Grint looked before he hit puberty and how Slytherins sucked. But think about the previews BEFORE the movie. Does this seem familiar?

During the haydays of internet file sharing, the megalith trade association known as the Motion Picture Association of America, which includes almost every large movie corporation, created these PSAs to try to curb internet file sharing.

This 30 second video not only appeared as a trailer to many blockbuster films, but also on the DVD as a required trailer before the main menu of the movie. It's sorta weird that they put this in the front of PURCHASED DVDS -- essentially they are preaching to the choir and actually targeting the people who did not violate any copyright laws.

But to be honest, who is this video targeting? Making the implication that file sharing, is as bad as stealing a car completely distorts the reality of the situation and makes the whole thing into a big fat joke. According to many studies, observers draw a sharp moral distinction between file sharing and genuine theft, even when the value of the property is the same. However, is it ethical for the movie industry to try to change standards of morality to make sure their bottom line stays the same?

The ethical-ness of changing ethics, based on Kant's categorical imperative, is not ethical at all -- corporations using money, media and influence to change the individuals' ethics (action/means) in order for people to not steal (end/consequence) is unethical in and of itself, even if the end consequence is good.

According to Mill, changing the ethics of all of those involved to make sure that less people illegally download movies is also unethical. The action essentially deprives the majority of enjoying music / movies and other various forms of media, while it only benefits a few at the top with rewarding them with more money and influence.

This about to get way more ~metaphysical~ than it should be, but corporations, even if their advertisements made sense and actually targeted the illegal file-sharers, cannot change conscious values. If someone tells you that something is "ethically wrong," there is no way to make someone believe that. The moral change has to come from one's internal sense of good and bad, of right and wrong. Someone's moral standards -- due to their upbringing, culture, ethnicity -- are well-grounded. Advertisements like that are not going to change anything.

The semantics of how to address file-sharing/stealing/piracy can go on and on, however if the MPAA actually want to make a dent in the copyright infringement that's going on, they gotta work with the system and stream of ever-evolving technology.

Let's be real: this video is not changing anything. The weird flame-eye effect is just making me laugh really hard.