Wow. Okay, my NetFlix queue is always about a couple-dozen movies deep, so I have barely enough time to watch movies, let alone download pirated copies off the internet. RIAA and MPAA are doing their best to make life miserable for the downloaders, and non-downloaders, of the world. Worst invention ever: brown security code dots that flash on the screen while you're watching a movie in the theater. One of the reasons I just wait for the DVD nowadays. Why should I pay so much cash for a slightly-corrupted experience that presumes there's a thief in the ever dwindling audience?

Anyway, this is revealing: the MPAA wants to be able to drift into the legal greyzone of pre-texting in order to get access to records of people (most likely, get their internet access records):

The bill won approval in three committees and sailed through the state Senate with a 30-0 vote. Then, according to Lenny Goldberg, a lobbyist for the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, the measure encountered unexpected, last-minute resistance from the Motion Picture Association of America.

"The MPAA has a tremendous amount of clout and they told legislators, 'We need to pose as someone other than who we are to stop illegal downloading,'" Goldberg said.

Source: Wired News: MPAA Kills Anti-Pretexting Bill .

Wrong wrong wrong. Let economics work this out. Stop supplying the product if the price-point demand is for $0.00. Let the community self-correct. Or come up with a new model.