amid the Big Scary Numbers Viant's flogging in "Copyright Crusade II: The Bloodening" (PDF) there is one story from Newsbytes (it's a shame WashPost's putting a bullet in its head) that stands out for its thoughtful professionalism.

Michael Bartlett's piece pays close attention to what Viant's CTO and report author Andrew Frank actually has to say and steers clear of the glib numerology, although the headline "Spidey, Clones Trigger Surge in Online Movie Piracy -- Study" didn't fill me with joy.

the Newsbytes headline is no big deal, though, when competitors like the San Jose Mercury News go to press with screamers like "Online film piracy cuts into industry profit: BOOTLEG COPIES BEING TRADED AT INTERNET SPEED". naturally, the Merc (like the BBC and c|net before them) leads with the Big Scary Numbers but they go one further when they haul Jack Valenti -- Big Content's most richly-rewarded foghorn -- out of cryosleep to proclaim that we are in the middle of what may (or may not) be the end of days: "It's getting clear -- alarmingly clear, I might add -- that we are in the midst of the possibility of Armageddon."

as an aside, i realize that "professional" journalists are supposed to avoid editorializing, but when Jack Valenti's morbid neo-Ludditry has driven him to compare the VCR to the murder of women and the internet to the annihillation of life as we know it in a final battle between the forces of good and evil, shouldn't someone suggest that Mr Valenti should plug the analog hole in his face?

fast-sinking web consultant Viant knows when it's got a hot item. their 2001 report on file sharing, "The Copyright Crusade" (PDF), has been getting the company some desperately-needed column-inches (although not enough to rescue it from the clutches of .com chop-shop divine -- where marchFIRST went to die). they've recently released an update and are waiting to take your call.

the original report was a thorough survey of file sharing in the internet, designed to give the reader a good handle on the issues and the players. while some estimates of file sharing activity were included, the authors responsibly included this disclaimer:

"It has been our intention to present a balanced and educated view of these phenomena, not to rigorously prove any specific metrics for piracy."

in the hands of Jack Valenti and Mike Eisner, though, the report's been stripped down to the Big Scary Numbers. since Viant's momma didn't raise no fool, the update's just giving the people what they want. "Copyright Crusade II: Bigger and Scarier" (it's a PDF and, actually, i added that last part) leads with the sexy stats -- disclaimer be damned. sure enough, news organizations ranging from the BBC, to c|net, to the Hollywood Reporter, are all blaring that "Movie Piracy Is Up 20%"

it's a shame that what started as a balanced, comprehensive report on the nascent phenomenon of digital distribution has turned into Big Content's weapon of choice.