Earlier today Fox News posted an online article by Roger Friedman where he describes his experience of using his computer to access and watch an illegal copy of the upcoming movie “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. Not only does he describe accessing the video file, but he then goes on to write a review of the film. The version he watched is the very same workprint copy that was illegally leaked onto the internet earlier this week, appearing throughout many peer-2-peer networks and online forums in an unprecedented full month before its scheduled theatrical release. The very same copy that studio 20th Century Fox has called the FBI in to investigate and will be using forensic marks in order to determine the source of the leak and then prosecute those involved to “the fullest extent of the law”.

(note: Fox News has since taken down the article or I would supply a link to it). 

I’ve been a professional reviewer for ten years now, writing about the products of video game publishers, gadget manufacturers, and movie studios including 20th Century Fox, and based on my understanding of the way these companies enforce their concerns over piracy, Mr. Friedman should have lost his job a few hours ago, or at least will be informed as such very soon.

Reviewers in this industry have to go through great lengths to gain the trust of publishers in order to access to their materials before launch date and even when we do we’re are subjected to extreme measures. Items are stamped with digital DNA, serial numbers are registered to our names, and sometimes we’re asked to sign non-disclosure agreements. We’re patted down before press screenings (Roger Ebert had his sandwhich searched at one screening) which can include guards wearing night vision goggles. When I reviewed the game Halo 3 before its release date, it was under the agreement that I would do so only in a hotel room under Microsoft’s control with only their own employees allowed to actually touch the console or game disc and with all materials accounted for before I left.

I used to attend press screenings for Pixar films until Disney decided it wasn’t worth the risk, that they could no longer trust the Canadian press to not record a copy of the film and leak it onto the internet. The consequences for breaching these relationships have always been real. One Canadian video game reviewer was blacklisted for life because Nintendo discovered that the review copies that they sent him had been traded in to a video game store in his town. It’s not just about avoiding the consequences, but about mutual respect. Publishers politely accept our scathing reviews and colourful criticisms (as long as they are professionally done) with little comment while still supplying advance materials for future criticism. We refrain from, y’know, pirating their work and that includes encouraging others to do so.

It’s not just the companies we report on who share these concerns, but the very networks we work for. CTV would be most unhappy with me if I started writing about the ways shows like Lost, American Idol or Corner Gas were being shared online. Understandably so.

Roger Freidman works for Fox News who are, as Freidman himself describes “cousins” of the staff at 20th Century Fox. You’d think he’d have even more reason to be respectful of their position on this. He does give “Wolverine” a positive review, saying that it “exceeds expectations at every turn. I was completely riveted to my desk chair in front of my computer”, but I don’t think that will be very soothing to the studio execs that Friedman guesses is probably “having apoplexy”. Yes, he does seem to understand that they takes these issues seriously and yet goes on within his online article to also reveal that he’s turned to online sources to watch other pirated material.

“I did find the whole top 10, plus TV shows, commercials, videos, everything, all streaming away” he writes. “It took really less than seconds to start playing it all right onto my computer. I could have downloaded all of it but really, who has the time or the room? Later tonight I may finally catch up with Paul Rudd in "I Love You, Man." It’s so much easier than going out in the rain!”

I’ve never heard of Roger Friedman until today and I could give him the benefit of the doubt and consider that he might be out of touch with the ways of the net and not fully understand that what he “found” online as he puts it was illegal, except that his article ends with “obviously someone who had access to a print uploaded the film onto this website. This begs several questions about security. Time to round up the usual suspects!”

As I complete this post I’ve noticed that FoxNews has reacted and have taken down the article. Good for them, but my expectation is that further action will be taken. For an industry that is famous for the saying “You’ll never work in this town again” I expect Roger Freidman has committed career suicide.

If not, then 20th Century Fox will have a difficult time inspiring respect for their piracy concerns from those of us who cover their work. I’ve written this knowing that my contacts at 20th Century Fox, as well as those of the other companies I report on, will be reading this and I want them to know that I’m paying close attention and will be noting how the situation plays out and what becomes of Mr. Friedman as sure are many others in my line of work.

Update: HitFix has received and published the following statements. These were issued within hours of the removal of Friedman's article from FoxNews. 

From 20th Century Fox - "We've just been made aware that Roger Friedman, a freelance columnist who writes Fox 411 on Foxnews.com - an entirely separate company from 20th Century Fox -- watched on the internet and reviewed a stolen and unfinished version of X-Men Orgins: Wolverine. This behavior is reprehensible and we condemn this act categorically -- whether the review is good or bad.""

From News Corp., parent company of both 20th Century Fox and Fox News - "Statement regarding Roger Friedman's column on FoxNews.com promoting a pirated version of X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Los Angeles, Calif., April 3, 2009 -- 'Roger Friedman's views in no way reflect the views of News Corporation. We, along with 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, have been a consistent leader in the fight against piracy and have zero tolerance for any action that encourages and promotes piracy. Once we learned of Roger Friedman's post we asked Fox News to remove it, which they did immediately.'"

No word yet as to what Friedman's fate will be. My expectation is that he has been fired, but if Fox is as serious about this issue as they present themselves to be, he should also face legal charges too. I'll post an update if it arrives. You can still read a Google cached copy of Friedman's article here.  

2nd Update: Nikki Finke is reporting on her blog Deadling Hollywood that Fox News fired Roger Freidman shortly after removing the offending article from their site.

"I'm told that Fox News' actions were swift and severe." she writes. "First, Roger Ailes, who overseas Fox News, deleted the offending post after he was contacted by 20th Century Fox about it. And then Ailes fired Friedman as a freelance Fox News entertainment writer. I hear the move was done with the full support of News Corp."

She quotes one source as saying "He promoted piracy. He basically suggested that viewing a stolen film is OK, which is absolutely intolerable. So we fired him."

Roger Friedman has been covering the world of entertainment for Fox News and their Fox411 column for nearly a decade. Finke goes on to say that she managed to reach him for a comment and that his only response was to say that he was busy attending a Paul Mc Cartney concert. 

I will be shocked if Friedman should ever find employment in this field again.  

While it is important that Fox set a public example in this matter that is consistent with their declared stance on internet-based piracy as well as their specific comments towards the leak of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", it is exceptionally so in Friedman's case, not just because he worked for a outlet related to 20th Century Fox, but because he was a reviewer for a professional outlet and as such had access to screeners and advance materials. If he was willing to watch leaked content and brag about it, then he might be willing to distribute his own screeners online as well. In this case the example being set is as much for the other journalists on Fox's screener list, an assurance that should anyone take it upon themselves to indulge in online piracy, either to send or receive, that there will be strict consequences. If Fox didn't react swiftly, they would have received pressure from other movie studios with similar concerns over their own screener programs.

My expectation from here on is that Roger Friedman will be blacklisted for life, not just from having access to interviews and press materials from 20th Century Fox, but every other movie studio, every music label, and every events promoter. He will have a difficult time becoming accredited in any field - video games, books, fashion, art, etc.

The shocking part of all this is that Roger Friedman should have predicted this, I don't know of any journalist working in a similar position that would not have expected this kind of reaction, making Friendman's article an exceptionally foolish case of career suicide.   

I imagine that, in addition to fielding calls from reporters like Nikke Finke, Friedman will no doubt be receiving requests from all the studios he has been covering to return any screeners or advance materials. Depending on how he handles that, if he were foolish enough to start releasing the materials online (and his actions suggest he is that foolish) then he could end up digging the hole he's in a lot deeper.