A free service enjoyed by hundreds has been shut down due to illegal activity conducted by one individual
“It’s unfortunate that one person ruins it for those who use the service legitimately,” said Commissioner Gary Fisher.
About five years ago, the county made a free wireless Internet connection available in the block surrounding the Coshocton County Courthouse at 318 Main St.
It was disabled last week after someone used the wireless local area network address to illegally download a movie.
The county’s Internet Service Provider — OneCommunity — was notified by Sony Pictures Entertainment about the breach, and the county’s Information Technology Department was in turn notified by OneCommunity.
Elizabeth Kaltman, vice president of corporate communications with the Motion Picture Association of America, said movie piracy is something the industry fights everyday.
“It’s a very, very common occurrence all across the U.S., in towns big or small,” she said.
Part of it could be due to a generation that’s grown up with computers and the Internet.
“They’re used to instant access and instant gratification,” she said. “They have the philosophy ‘if it’s there, I can take it.’”
It’s not true. There are many sites out there offering illegal movie and music downloads, but there’s also a growing number of sites that offer video streaming legally. Those are available on the MPAA’s Web site, Kaltman said. In addition to the recognizable names such as Netflix and Blockbuster, Disney Video, Fox on Demand, Cartoon Network and others have joined the instant download move.
“There are a growing number of ways to get the information they want legitimately,” she said.
The MPAA focuses most of its efforts on catching the source of the movies, like pirates who illegally use a camcorder in a theater.
“We target piracy at its source,” she said. “We really focus on keeping the product out of the market in the first place.”
Illegal downloads would be prosecuted as a civil matter, she said, and could be subject to fines up to $150,000.
