See, the MPAA likes to wave this figure around a lot: the fact that their study shows that 44% of their lost revenue is due to illegal downloading of movies by college students. This study has been used to work on forcing campuses to install internet watchdog software, which is a huge pain in the ass (see recent post about a rider for college money in a government bill).
Well, that sounds like bullshit to me. Always did. And now, the MPAA admits that it is, in fact, bullshit.
Now, they've told education groups a "human error" in that survey caused it to get the number wrong. It now blames college students for about 15 percent of revenue loss. Oops. Still, that's a big chunk they say, and campuses need to crack down on this rampant piracy.
Except that it's still mostly bullshit. Since only 20% of students live on campus and, thus, use campus networks, that means that rampant piracy that they want these safeguards in place to stop is a whopping 3% of their lost revenue. Not exactly a big chunk now, is it?
Try again, you money-grubbing fat cats.