Fury as Fahrenheit 9/11 director backs illegal not-for-profit downloads
By Iain S Bruce, Online Editor


Controversial film-maker Michael Moore has welcomed the appearance on the internet of pirated copies of his anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 and claimed he is happy for anybody to download it free of charge.

The activist, author and director told the Sunday Herald that, as long as pirated copies of his film were not being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded.
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Read the rest at the link. Outgoing Valenti spews forth the usual crap.

Michael Moore is no fool. The more people who see this film, the greater chance it will accomplish what it set out to do.

^_^.. i despise how the press even tries to paint people downloading with permission as thieves.

"“I don’t think there’s really a single actor or director in the world who does not believe that if you don’t combat piracy, it will devour you in the future.”"

lets see.. what was that quote from Moore?

"“Is it wrong for someone who’s bought a film on DVD to let a friend watch it for free? Of course it’s not. It never has been and never will be. I think information, art and ideas should be shared.”"

hmmm.. wow.. a producer/director who believes its wrong to combat the evil customers who want to see his work!

amazing.. he contradicts the plain facts in his speech with such subtlety it appears he speaks the truth.

Well here goes Hollywood again. A dike with 60 million holes in it and a 3 fingered man trying to plug it.

Same old line, same old stance. New technology, we are against it. To date they haven't been right about it. The allowing of home recordings of cassettes and 8 tracks sprawned a whole new sales area where people bought the same music again because they wanted to take it with them when they drove. Vcr's sprawed the rental industry when it was allowed to be ok for the consumer to use, unhindered. MP3's? To soon to tell, might just have another take off on the interent, provided they get reasonable about it. Not likely but could. But the entrenched moguls see this as only another threat as they always have. They have been proven wrong time and again by history. Need I say more?

"“Is it wrong for someone who’s bought a film on DVD to let a friend watch it for free? Of course it’s not. It never has been and never will be. I think information, art and ideas should be shared.”"

Moore just convinced me to go see the film.

Moore does seem to know just the right thing to .. say .. at the right time.

As an artist, Michael Moore makes his money not only off the film but through the exposure it gets as well. Moreover he is a non fiction director so its towards his best interest for the thing to get around. The problem isnt Mike, though he is ok with it and I think that is great, the copyright of the film is also owned by another company which may not be ok with the free distribution of the film.

"“Is it wrong for someone who’s bought a film on DVD to let a friend watch it for free? Of course it’s not. It never has been and never will be. I think information, art and ideas should be shared.”"

Moore just convinced me to go see the film.

AMEN Shmoo....same here. He makes sense here and I am willing to support him for it.

I seriously think it would be worth contacting Mr. Moore and ask him what he thinks about doing a film on copyright.

I like Moore. I loved the film.
Happy Day after the 4th One and All.
Gotta drive 4 hours back to Austin today.
Take Care one and all.
~CW

I think Moore finally made a great statement and is 100% right. I still have no desire to see the film though. I'd rather take the ticket money and buy a six pack of corona. the resulting buzz will be a lot more enjoyable

I have already downloaded this movie, and I have alot of friends who have done the same. I even know people in other countries that are ALSO downloading this movie. And, with the exception of 2 people, every one of us sent money via pay-pal to Michael directly. Hmm...let's see...7 dollars for an average movie ticket? I downloaded the movie, so here you go, Michael...here's more money for a viewing of your movie by a single person than you would have gotten otherwise.

Gee...who'da thunk? Paying the REAL people behind the works that we watch...I wonder why no one else ever thought of that...

“I don’t think there’s really a single actor or director in the world who does not believe that if you don’t combat piracy, it will devour you in the future.”

Wow, why are you guys getting a kick in the back by this? He might have meant ACTUAL bootleggers who download and SELL for money. There's a difference between downloading, and making money off of the stuff you got off the net.

You know, if Moore really feels this way, he should drop the major distributing companies and do completely independant films out of his own pockets. That way, he can just GIVE his stuff away without any flap over it.

But of course, that wouldn't be so much of a 3 ring circus would it?

I happen to agree with a lot of things that Moore says, I just wish he'd say it a little differently. And keep his hands off my guns.

Moore will no more do this thing on p2p than any other artist or actor that wants to work again with or for Hollywood.

You see the immeadate reaction from Hollywood, you don't hear the implied threat as easily. Only way some one would make such a movie is with the understanding that it is his going out bang and plans never to return to the industry. Not many are willing to cut their strings in such a definate manner. This is why control is important to them. If you don't toe the line with whatever stance is the current one to be obeyed then you suffer the conquesences. This applies to wannabees as well as established artists.

"as long as pirated copies of his film were not being sold, he had no problem with it being downloaded."

Well shit. That's almost the same as saying that downloading music shouldn't put you in jail and cost you 20 million in fines. Only selling someone else's music should. I wonder if he used common sense on purpose or if it was just a hiccup =)

"...opponents of the high-profile polemicist are urging people to “steal” their copy, thus denying its director his cut of the profits."

So it's okay to "steal" now, provided you disagree with the content of the material, or just don't like the person who created it?...

hmm...

I don't care what Michael Moore says. Again, I'll wait until its on regular TV, then I'll consider watching it. I wouldn't waste my bandwidth downloading propaganda.

Something to think about Capt-n-Jack: Fool me once...shame on........me.
Fool me twice...won't get fooled again.

As I stated on the prior topic related to Michael Moore, without a public statement, I knew where he stood on the matter.


You can basically guess where MM stands on a given issue. Heres the logic.

If (BigBusinessInterest > AverageJoesWellBeing){
open (/dev/camera);
&GotoBigBusinessAndStirThingsUp;
}

Its pretty straight forward. Unlike most people in the lime light - he actually puts his money where mouth is. Or more to the point - willingly put his message where the money Isn't.

He also clearly stated "I do pretty well for myself with my books'

So unlike all the other record/movie industry blood suckers, he comes across as someone who doesn't believe that money is the cure to all their ills.

Boggieman is right BTW - MM could be the Most Effective proponent of this sites goals.

He's caused Humana to change their pancreas transplant policy - in BFC got k-mart to stop carrying bullets (not a statement endorsing gun control - its the fact that he was able to do it - nor did they request that k-mart not sell guns)

If you've seen 'The Awful Truth' you know that making a fuss till results are achieved is MM's Hallmark.

As a fan - if you see MM with a camera in your neck of the woods - know that 'shh be vewy vewy qwiet were hunting big bizness'

His next effort will be to do a piece related to the 'Awful Truth' episode where he saved the guys life that needed the pancreas transplant. As far as hes stated - no long range plan after that effort, so maybe if we start mailing him now, it will git his gears rolling.

Regardless of whether you agree with his election politics - Hes a Left thinker who's in his Right mind when it comes to fair use.

/rant off