In two articles the Economist calls a leader
here and a briefing
here, it gives a long account of the state of the movie industry and its attempts to prevent the erosion of income from piracy, while preserving its income streams from DVDs and the big retailers like WalMart. It makes a recommendation that the industry should turn to the internet, which it is failing to exploit fully, exploiting grudgingly, or actually resisting.
While the web technology isn't fully developed, it will no doubt come, if not by plan, by the pirates. Though the Economist doesn't recognize it, piracy is powerfully encouraged by the fact that the marginal costs of an additional sale are vanishingly small while the companies insist on keeping their prices high. The difference is just way too high to maintain.