参考答案: Hollywood also faces competition from illegally copied movies, a
major issue to the Motion Picture Association of America. The trade
group estimated more than eighteen billion dollars in worldwide losses
from piracy in two thousand five.
Hollywood
reporter Alan Silverman says piracy has influenced how American movies
are released. In the past, Hollywood studios waited months after the
American release of a film to release it in foreign markets. Now, many
aim to release films at the same time around the world.
Foreign
markets may also influence how people get their movies. Different
nations have different levels of technology. Efforts to settle on the
next-generation DVD got a lot of attention recently. Sony's Blu-ray
technology for high-definition televisions won the competition with
Toshiba's HD DVD format.
Yet DVD sales have dropped in recent
years. This may be a sign that people are increasingly getting their
movies off the Internet. The Internet is another front in Hollywood's
war on piracy. But more than that, it presents complex business
questions for an industry now built mostly on DVD and ticket sales.