Although the association was born as a non-profit, the major studios give it millions of dollars in donations every year to help it stop piracy and pay other legal fees.
The current Chairman and CEO of the MPAA is Dan Glickman.
MPAA members are:
The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Paramount Pictures Viacom, 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, and Warner Bros.
Besides anti-piracy efforts, the MPAA also administers the voluntary rating system for motion pictures.
According to the official MPAA press releases, the ratings they use are as follows:
"If a movie is rated G, all ages can see. There is no (or limited) violence, sexual content, or language.
If a movie is rated PG, then there is some violence or language. Parents have to take children.[citation needed]
If a movie is rated PG-13, then it has language, some sexual content, and language. Children under 13 should not see it.
If a movie is rated R, then it has disturbing images or content and strong language or sexual content. People under 17 should not see it."
MPAA in the News
Here are a few snippets of recent MPAA news, to see all Afterdawn posted MPAA news please use this link: MPAA in the News
EliteTorrents administrator found guilty (28 June 2008)- Dan Glickman of the MPAA of course applauded the decision. "This conviction - the eighth of which resulted from a nationwide federal crackdown on the illegal distribution of copyrighted content over P2P networks - sends a clear message that when presented with clear-cut evidence, jurors have little tolerance for the willful, deliberate, and widespread distribution of protected content."
MPAA to judge: We don't need no stinking proof (21 June 2008)- The MPAA is arguing in a legal brief that plaintiffs should be allowed to collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages with no proof that anyone has actually downloaded from a defendant's shared folder.
MediaDefender's illegal tactics take down legal video site (29 May 2008)- MediaDefender, a company best known for their work for the MPAA has apparently admitted to being responsible for a massive Denial of Service (DoS) attack that occured last weekend in which a server used to host BitTorrent trackers was effectively shut down.
Los Angeles thinks piracy is a “public nuisance” (10 May 2008)- Citing “minor input” from the MPAA and RIAA, the Los Angeles County government has now added piracy to its definition of “public nuisance", meaning all properties used in the dissemination of counterfeit goods can now be seized.
MPAA awarded $110 million in TorrentSpy suit (8 May 2008)- Just a few weeks ago BitTorrent site TorrentSpy was shut down by parent company Valance Media LLC, replaced with a message explaining that the owners "feel compelled to provide the ultimate method of privacy protection for our users - permanent shutdown." TorrentSpy's demise is the result of a MPAA victory in U.S. federal court where they accused the site's operators of inducing copyright infringement. In a final ruling this week (pending an appeal) the court awarded the MPAA $110 million dollars.
