John Drinnan: Who was that masked pirate?

Guests at the opening of the new NZME Central headquarters were greeted with a traditional welcome yesterday. Photo / Dean Purcell

Shutdown of movie websites draws a veil over operator's name.

Hollywood studios are all Secret Squirrel about the identity of the alleged international movie pirate who ran the YTS and YIFY websites.

The pirate is said to have uploaded thousands of movies from his Mt Wellington home and was depicted as a movie pirating kingpin.

Surprisingly, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) appears to have become matey with the alleged pirate. Industry comments suggest that will be part of an attempt to learn how pirates ply their trade.

The MPAA depicts the closure of the websites as a big win for the studios, which had lodged a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in the High Court.

But the MPAA's seeming embrace of its enemy seems odd, given that it is so passionate about the rule of copyright law.

Some of the films distributed through the sites were funded by New Zealand taxpayers and made with the creative talents of New Zealand producers and directors.

As a result, they have lost revenue from hundreds of thousands of illegal downloads.

Matthew Cheetham is MPAA's local representative at the NZ Screen Association. He rejected a suggestion that preserving the pirate's anonymity was effectively protecting an offender.

The YTS and YIFY sites were key suppliers of movies to the high-profile Popcorn Time website based in Canada, which was closed down simultaneously by the MPAA.

Closing the sites was a service to New Zealanders, Cheetham said.

And the MPAA had received thanks from New Zealand producers such as Ant Timpson, whose co-production Turbo Kids had 246,000 illegal downloads through YTS.

We know very little about the anonymous pirate, though the MPAA is confident he will not reoffend. Despite the apparent scale of YTS and YIFY, it is not clear whether the pirate was making a lot of money.

Media technology commentator Peter Griffin said some such sites overseas made money through subscriptions. Others did it through advertising and some - less salubriously - were paid to deliver malware.

Online comment from users of the downloads gave mixed reviews. Several said YTS provided good quality pirated copies.

One person contacted by the Herald said, "YIFY was superb. Unlike other sites they basically only did 720 or 1080 rips of DVDs or Bluerays. No TV, no porn, no software etc., just movies.

"YIFY was very specialised and also so well-supplied, I find it hard to believe they were operating without assistance from Eastern Europe."

Griffin thought the MPAA might have overplayed the significance of closing YTS. Internationally, there were many other pirates of that scale who would quickly fill the gap.

Moving on

Herald publisher NZME is at the front of the pack in an Auckland media building boom. The boom was started by the refurbishment of TVNZ's headquarters, soon to be followed by Fairfax Media, which is building a new editorial complex in Ponsonby.

NZME is being restructured, with the convergence of its print, radio and online arms, and a makeover of its approach to news to offer a greater focus on digital content.

Two weeks from now, the first staff will start transferring from the existing NZME offices on Albert St, to state of the art facilities in Victoria St West.

Central to the new fit-out was the creation of a central news hub. NZME managing editor Shayne Currie said it had taken nine months and the company had studied other newsrooms, such as Bloomberg and Germany's Die Welt. "Europe is leading the way in this area from our perspective. We have developed ... a new heartbeat for the newsroom, new ways of planning, completely new way of operating and new roles to deliver on it," he said.

TVNZ rejects RNZ

The shift will be the latest step towards a media district in Victoria St West. The new NZME building is adjacent to the offices of Spark and its Lightbox subscription on-demand service, and TVNZ's network centre is at the top of the hill. TVNZ is being led from offices in the Spark centre as it awaits the network centre makeover.

TVNZ insists the makeover is going according to plan, though the Herald has heard suggestions that the refurbishment is well above budget. Lenska Papich, TVNZ's communications manager, replied: "As with any major refurbishment of a 25-year-old building there have been some unforeseen costs, however these are being tightly managed."

The Herald has also heard rumours of talks between the chair of TVNZ, Joan Withers, and RNZ chair Richard Griffin, about a closer relationship between the two state broadcasters. A parliamentary insider suggested the RNZ approach had been rebuffed by TVNZ, which is in no rush to associate itself with the persistent rancour between RNZ and the Government.

Home wanted

Maori media sources have told me that Maori TV wants to take space in the TVNZ network centre, though chief executive Paora Maxwell said he had not heard of the idea, and Papich said TVNZ had no plans to share the building with tenants.

Maori TV is looking to move from its Newmarket studios next year, and the Government recently rejected suggestions that it develop a new complex in Rotorua, using land supplied by local Maori.

Maori TV is looking at other sites but, according to my source, the channel's management is focused on a central Auckland location.

• For any news tips, contact me at 09 630 6833