When a British entrepreneur unveiled the first legal service to Watch Vampires Suck Movie Free a few years ago, video store owners around the world began worrying about their future. Why, indeed, would a customer drive to a store when they can buy the movie they seek from their computer keyboard?

Why, after all, would customers leave the comfort of their home to wander through a store to study video covers when anybody can do the same thing at their home keyboard? Why go out into the rain or snow or summer's heat when everything's available -- legally -- at the click of a mouse?

And here's another prediction: the illegal download sites will boom as well. Why not download for free? One major reason is that it's illegal. Law enforcement made very public examples of a number of illegal music downloaders several years ago. Do you really want to see your name in the headlines? Terrible quality is another reason. Viruses are also common with free online movie downloads. The jerks who create viruses have to dream up clever ways to spread them.

Hollywood lost about $2.3 billion in revenue to internet pirates a few years ago. The total annual income of the big studios that year was just under $45 billion. So, it should be no surprise that Hollywood is battling internet movie piracy with gusto.

However, uploading the film and downloading it onto home computers are crimes. Hollywood lost an estimated $2.3 billion to internet piracy just a few years ago. Another $3.8 billion was lost to bootlegged DVDs and other "hard goods" piracy that same year. Hollywood's total annual income that year was estimated to be just under $45 billion. So, with $6.2 million slipping through their fingers it should not be surprising that the movie industry is battling piracy with increasing vigor. Some would say China is the capital of movie piracy. Indeed, within hours of a film being released nationwide in the U. S., illegal DVD copies are available on the street in Shanghai and Beijing. About 90 percent of DVDs sold in China are bootlegged. However, Hollywood reports that it even loses even more money because of internet piracy in North America and Europe.

Such pirates fill a gap overseas where legitimate markets are heavily restricted. So the pirates may actually be pointing the way to new markets that the internet can open. Once upon a time, the big movie studios opposed the release of their movies on TV. They also fought the development of cable movie channels such as HBO. Then they resisted VHS and DVD marketing. Hollywood feared that TV, cable and home video would destroy movie theaters.

Pirate successes are worth careful study. They do point to untapped opportunity. Not so many years ago, Hollywood actually fought the idea of marketing videotaped movies. The big studios feared that people would stay at home rather than go to their local cinema. They were wrong, however. Home viewing has expanded Hollywood's reach. Today many new releases are never screened at a theater, but instead go directly to home video.

So, expect the pirates to exploit the internet. But watch out for Hollywood to figure out clever strategies as well -- as the ability to Watch Vampires Suck Movie for Free becomes a part of everyday life.