Using Piracy to help Tsunami Victims?

James Delahunty
9 Jan 2005 0:27

The idea of using Piracy to help the victims of the Tsunami in Asia might sound a bit strange to you, especially since today's entertainment industry likes to remind us about links between piracy and terrorism, organised crime and of course the tragic falling of sales, but believe it or not, an Internet piracy group has attempted it. A DVD Screener copy of The Aviator appeared online last night from a group who called themselves simply, "Tsunami-Appeal". The group left a message in the nfo file which would be packed with this movie download.

Ok we bring you this nice movie in superb quality but if you download
and watch it you must dontate some money to the Unfortunate victims
of the Tragedy in Asia. So many people died and more are homeless
so give generously and help some one less fortunate than yourself
Trust me you will feel better.

The movie is currently being traded online through XDCC distribution, P2P networks and of course, it has shown up on the biggest BitTorrent sites. There was some speculation online as to whether the release was the real movie and whether it was DVD Screener quality or not. However, from reading over forums and sites, it does appear to be real. It is an XviD movie, split into 2 parts and is around 1.4GB apparently. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio who has pledged a "sizeable" contribution to UNICEF targeted for aid to devastated areas of Thailand, where his 2000 film "The Beach," was filmed.