Next on the Net: Pirated Movies

Now that stealing music and video games has become routine, pirates are closing in on a new target: feature films. Some 200 websites offer illegal copies of popular movies such as Saving Private Ryan and Shakespeare in Love, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. The images are often blurred and jerky. And downloading them onto your computer is a federal felony. But violators are hard to catch and the films are free, so they're finding an audience. "Online movie piracy is a cancer in the belly of our business," frets M.P.A.A. president Jack Valenti. "It's not a big problem today, but it could plant the seeds for the garden of evil."

Stealing and posting filmed images online is relatively easy. A pirate simply carries a digital camcorder into a movie theater, tapes a film, then uploads the file to his PC and personal website back home. Or she hooks a standard VCR up to her computer and uses a video capture card to convert the film to a digital format. For now, DVD movies are tough to pirate because the files are encrypted. Big movie companies are working to develop a similarly secure format that would allow them to offer pay-per-view films online.

Already several sites, including

, and iFilm.net post legitimate copies of mostly independent films that can be viewed for free. All you need is a Web browser and a program such as RealPlayer (available on each site). So why aren't these companies worried about piracy? "It's still too early," says AtomFilms' Mika Salmi. Ah, but that's what they said about music before MP3 came along.