‘The Interview’ pirates are mostly from outside the US

Have you seen ‘The Interview'? The film featuring Seth Rogen and James Franco that was summarily pulled from release on Christmas day due to hacker threats, only to be launched simultaneously in independent theatres and on Youtube/Google Play? Chances are if you did, that you live within the United States, as the film has yet to receive a worldwide release. That or you're a pirate.

Much has been made of those that have downloaded The Interview illegally, with a lot of people, perhaps even some of those that would regularly pirate movies themselves, railing against those who have seen it through illegitimate sources for holding back the digital distribution of movies. They claim that those who have done so could not be given a simpler and cheaper way to access the movie (through Youtube, Google Play or iTunes, rentable for $6.99, purchaseable for $15.99).

Of course though, that's only if you live within the US, or don't mind jumping through hoops to spoof your location and the location of your payment provider account.

While The Interview has sold very well indeed, with over two million rents/sales to speak of suggesting that digital releases of movies alongside theatrical releases could be viable, the film was torrented over 2.5 million times. The majority of them however, came from overseas, suggesting the film could have done even better had it been released internationally.

This is the data TorrentFreak dug up at least, which looked at some 7,000 IP addresses of The Interview pirates, discovering that 17.6 per cent came from the US, with a further 30 per cent coming from countries like Australia, the UK, Canada and the Netherlands.

KitGuru Says: Did you pirate The Interview? If so, would you have purchased it if given the option?

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