MPAA sues 250 for online film piracy

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- The Motion Picture Association of America Thursday announced 250 lawsuits against people who illegally downloaded movies over the Internet.

MPAA Anti-Piracy Director John Malcolm said the defendants were identified by the operators of illegal Web sites shut down earlier this year.

"Internet movie thieves be warned: you have no friends in the online community when you are engaging in copyright theft," Malcolm said in a news release.

The MPAA last year expanded its campaign against film piracy and began filing lawsuits against Web site operators and individuals found to be engaged in illegal movie swapping.

The MPAA estimates the film industry lost nearly $3.5 billion to movie piracy in 2004, which doesn't include illegal online activity. With that number added in, losses are expected to jump to $5.4 billion in 2005.