Yesterday's WSJ had a sober article about a recent study that concluded that the movie business's losses from piracy are much greater than heretofore thought, approaching $6.1 billion per year. The survey included losses from Internet downloading as well as from counterfeit DVDs. It also addressed the common criticism that not every pirated copy represents a lost sale by specifically asking survey respondents about the issue. Additonal bad news:

The study also shows that home video, not theatrical distribution, is the market that piracy hits hardest, accounting for two-thirds of the studio's lost revenue. That is a big blow to the studios, which had been counting on the lucrative DVD market to increase their bottom lines, but in recent months have found DVD sales are slowing considerably.

The survey also bucks the assumption that piracy is a kids' activity. In Japan, one of Hollywood's biggest foreign markets, 50% of the overall industry's losses are the result of piracy by people ages 25 to 39.

The WSJ calls the study "bad news for the MPAA's antipiracy efforts." So it is, but the industry has never claimed that occasional law suits and "education" would solve the problem. The industry is constantly seeking tougher measures that would, it is feared by the tech industry, have the potential of interfering with its business models and practices.

As movies go, so go all other content industries. For example, as computer displays get perfected for easy reading, the marvelous possibilities of carrying thousands of books around on a portable computer will become a reality, and the publishing industry will no longer be protected by the fact that it costs more to print out a book on one's home printer than to buy it. At that point, the book publishers will be looking down that same gun-barrel that is now pointed at the movies.

It is inconceivable that the American public will sit passively while all content industries collapse in an orgy of free riding and piracy, so this latest news is gloomy for everyone, not just for the MPAA. It makes "tech mandates," "ISP filtering," "secondary liability," and other potential responses more likely, and all of these raise difficult problems. They are also much feared by the tech industry, and with reason.

So the study is bad news in circles considerably beyond the MPAA -- such as, the whole tech industry and all honest consumers who want access to lots of content and are willing to pay their fair share to get it. Houston, we have a problem -- and it is a collective one.