Moore doesn't mind people downloading his movie for free

[Highland Ranger]

Playing "Fahrenheit"?

34 minutes ago

By Joal Ryan

For once, perhaps, Jim Kenefick has taken Michael Moore at his word.

Armed with a Moore sound bite in which the Oscar-winning gadfly says he doesn't "have a problem with people downloading" his movies, Kenefick is doing as the man says--and encouraging Netizens to download the filmmaker's latest incendiary device, Fahrenheit 9/11.

"Clearly, we have an agenda," Kenefick, who co-runs the anti-Moore site, Moorewatch.com, said Thursday. "We want people to watch it. Let's face it: I don't mind being a bee in his bonnet."

On Sunday, an off-site link to a bootlegged copy of Moore's hit documentary went up on Moorewatch.com, which is "dedicated to unearthing the truth behind the doublespeak and falsehood that spews from the mouth...of Michael Moore on a regular basis."

Four server-crashing days later, the link is still there (if you can get to the page--it's found under a June 27 posted titled "Steal This Movie"). Moore's distributor is still fuming, and Kenefick is still unbowed.

"I absolutely, positively will not cave to a fancy lawyer threat," Kenefick said.

Not that he has heard from any lawyers. As of Thursday noon, Kenefick said he hadn't been contacted by reps for Moore or Lions Gate Films, which partnered with IFC to pick up the Disney-dumped Fahrenheit. The President Bush (news - web sites)-bashing film grossed $23.9 million last weekend, a record for a documentary.

In the Hollywood Reporter, Lions Gate president Tom Ortenberg talked "legal options" with regard to the Internet download issue.

"I think it's deplorable what enemies of Fahrenheit 9/11 are doing," Ortenberg said in the trade paper. "We are currently looking into our legal options. We are not going to tolerate anybody trying to infringe on [the film's release]."

Ironically, the anti-piracy warriors at the Motion Picture Association of America can be counted out in the fight over Fahrenheit.

MPAA spokesman Matthew Grossman said Thursday that since Lions Gate, which recently battled the organization's ratings board over Moore's documentary, isn't a member of the movie-lobbying group, the MPAA doesn't have the authority to go after bootleggers of its films.

"[But] just because our anti-piracy guys can't send out a cease-and-desist letter doesn't mean that when we do for these laws [we'll ignore the issue]," Grossman said. "What's important to us is that we change this culture of intellectual property violations."

The prospect of the MPAA going to bat for Fahrenheit is a tantalizing one, considering that the group recently did battle with Moore over the film's rating. Moore wanted a teen-friendly PG-13; the MPAA wanted, and got, an adult-friendly R.

For his part, the 34-year-old Kenefick, who has watched Fahrenheit "a number of times" on his computer, said he generally supports copyright laws.

"The MPAA, the companies that make these films, [they] have the right to say you can't do this," Kenefick said.

And while Kenefick said he wouldn't help his readers find an Internet bootleg of, say, Spider-Man 2, he said Fahrenheit 9/11 is a different matter--presenting a chance to tweak what he views as Moore's hypocrisy.

To Moorewatch.com, exhibit A is an exchange, said to be from a pre-Cannes, European press conference, in which Moore tells a reporter he doesn't "agree with the copyright laws." (A link to the clip is available on the site.)

"I don't have a problem with people downloading the movie and sharing it with people," Moore is heard saying. "As long as they're not doing it to make a profit off it, as long as they're not trying to make a profit off my labor."

Kenefick said he took up Moore (under fire himself from Ray Bradbury for borrowing his film's title from the author's legendary book Fahrenheit 451) on the challenge when a reader emailed him a link to the Fahrenheit download.

"Let's see if Moore really wants this to be about the work and not the money," Kenefick wrote on Moorewatch.com in the "Steal This Movie" post. "Let's get as many people to see this for themselves, and for free, as we can. Mikey, if you want to sue me, I'm not hard to find."

Certainly, Moorewatch.com hasn't been difficult for users to find (server issues aside). Traffic has tripled, to one million page views in June, Kenefick said.

If a court ordered Moorewatch.com to delete its Fahrenheit link, Kenefick said he would, but he promised that Moore wouldn't see the end of the movie on the Internet.

Said Kenefick, with a bravado that Moore might appreciate: "You can't beat something like this."

DIRECT LINK TO THE MOOREWATCH RELEVANT PAGE: http://67.19.19.67/index.php/weblog/comments/714

or

http://www.moorewatch.com/index.php/weblog/comments/714

The site is swamped so you may need to retry a few times . . . .

 

[Justin]

Absolutely brilliant.

 

[Ivy Mike]

as much as I distrust Moore, I actually admire the guy for making the "I don't care..." statement.
While he has the right to be paid for his work, spreading a few free copies around will hardly cut into box office profits nor the eventual video release. I actually went an saw the movie just so I'd be able to debate about it with others.

 

[Brett Bellmore]

Of course he doesn't care; It's a campaign commercial, after all; He doesn't care if it makes a profit, he just wants as many potential voters as possible to see it.

 

[halvey]

Ha! Sure, it's not about the money.

It's amazing the way the media is handling this. On CNBC, whic is on all day at work, says, 'it's the most controversial movie ever'. Really? I thought The Passion was.

When they talk about how much money the movie is making, they say it will glee. But when they mentioned the Passion, they ripped Gibson for "profiting" from the controversy.

 

[Highland Ranger]

It's more about the money than it is about Bush . . . . and apparently Moore and Lion's Gate are supposed to sue.

It'd be fun to down load the film just to add to the count of tickets they could have sold.

 

[jnojr]

From what I've heard of Michael Moore, if given a choice between more money or more people seeing his crockumentary and maybe being persuaded to see things "correctly"... he'd take the later. Seems he's always been a pie-in-the-sky idealist.

 

[porciniman]

This latest piece of "Mooreality" is a must see.
It will certainly give us a better view into MM's mind, and help us be better able to judge the film on its content!
Those who have discerning abilities, will be able to see past the rehtoric, and hopefully, make an informed decision on the validity of this film.
All docs are somewhat biased, but this will surely open an elightened persons eyes!
As far as it's about the money..well, in the true capitalist sense, why make an endevor of this magnitude and not expect some financial gain?
I am just a little suspicious of the $$ and poltical motive.
Just my 2 cents.
Cheers, VB

 

[fjolnirsson]

Good.

Now I can save it and watch it when I feel like upchucking. Better than ipecac, and I don't even have to pay for it!

 

[Ivy Mike]

just out of curiosity, how many of the people bashing the film have actually seen it?
This one is quite different from "Bowling for Columbine." As long as you take it with a 6 lb grain of salt, you may actually learn something.

 

[Justin]

Clean-

About the only way I'll watch one of Moore's movies is with a computer and high-speed web connection at my fingertips so I can do a bit of realtime fact-checking.

I've watched 'Bowling For Columbine' as well as Moore's other movies and a few episodes of his defunct television shows. Thusly I draw the following twofold conclusion:

1)Moore is provably a habitual liar* and self-aggrandizer.

2)As he's gotten more famous over the last several years his relationship with what we might generally call "reality" has become increasingly questionable.



*This could be epic, but I'll keep it short and tangy: Remember when he went to the Lockheed Martin facility in Littleton? Remember how he made a big deal about how they manufactured "weapons of mass destruction" there?

Well, around about 1999 my sister in law worked at that very same plant as a Mechanical Process Engineer on the Titan IV Unmanned Space Booster project. For those not in the know, the Titan IV is used as a launch vehicle to put satellites into orbit, the bulk of which are all either communications or television satellites. There isn't so much as a cap gun to be found in that facility, much less any sort of ICBM.

In that year I was lucky enough to get a guided tour of the facility, and I can tell you I didn't see one nuke. Just a bunch of rockets for putting stuff into space.

Then, of course, there's the bit about the bomber on display at the Air Force Academy, and Moore's apparent inability to read text that is etched into a chunk of metal.

That makes two counts of me having physically been to the same place Moore has and documenting, for myself, that he's full of crap. One wonders what sort of cross-country tour could be made by simply visiting all of the places Moore has been to see them for one's self.

 

[spacemanspiff]

well on the bright side, i now know how to convert a *.bin/cue to a *.mpg, yayyy!


i found it interesting that whenever moore needed to make a point that supported his "theories", he posed a question.
"was bush thinking THIS when THAT happened?"

found it nauseating that he blew so much smoke up the Lipscombs posterior going along with their support of those who join the Army, saying things like "you gotta be proud of your sons and daughters", and "this is a great country", all while he derides those that join and portrays all of them as being either gungho killers or pacifists. meanwhile he goes to other countries and talk to them about how crappy this country is and how much he hates America.

also found it interesting that he began the movie by hypothesizing that the minority votes dont count, and then he focused heavily on african americans who were enlisting or already been deployed.

i might be able to swallow moores train of thought if he had some compassion, and wanted to do something worthwhile for others. but he doesnt. he shows how bad things are in Flint where he lived, but does he do anything with his money to help the unemployed? has he done anything but dance on the graves of those he uses to further his own agenda?

its obvious that moore takes great pleasure in seeing others having difficult times, because he knows he can use them and their stories to put more money in his pockets.

 

[tyme]

Anyone who hasn't seen Moore's latest mockumentary, wants to, and can't figure out how to use bittorrent, PM me.