The error would kind of like saying "...going after cable, an entertainment watching group, ...". Cable is a technology used to distribute content to people who like to watch entertainment, it's not a "group".

BitTorrent is not a "group." Nor is it really the equivalent of Napster. It is simply a very well written file transfer protocal. It is being used to spread everything from Christian literature to Chomsky. It would be a great way on this site, for example, to share a video w/ very little bandwith. I am not saying that there is not a lot of piracy, but there is a lot of great stuff happening with it as well. It is really beautifully though out code... I use it legally for Soviet-era materials for teaching Russian history, which are available from Russian users. There are also sites devoted devoted at least a half dozen provinces in China (more questionably legit, but it is hard to stick up for the Chinese on intellectual property) w/ regional Chinese television. Shut down the Star Wars sharing, but don't let them trick you into shutting down the whole thing... In fact, you guys should use it on this site to share documents and materials.

As for Napster, I think it was a shame it got shut down. I did not condone the piracy, but I myself (and many hundreds if not thousands of others) used it legally to share pre-copyrighted music transferred directly from wax cylinders to mp3. Much of this material never even made it onto 78. Billy Murray, for example, was one of the most popular pre-WWI singers, and until a few years ago, there was not a single CD available of him online. When the shut down napster, this whole early music phenomenon passed... I couldn't care a lick about contemporary music.

Fair point on the advance buzz. Still, whereas hearing a cool song will make me more likely to buy the CD, seeing the movie would ordinarily make me less likely to plunk down my shekels and see it at a theater. Maybe I'd get the DVD later, though, since that's a more convenient way to watch than on my computer.

Also, and on the subject, bittorrent seems to have HELPED the popularity of Battlestar Galactica and Doctor Who. At the LEAST, it's not hurting Star Wars. It probably helped generate the advance "sucks much less than the previous two movies" buzz.