MUMBAI: The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), Inc. has launched its Third Annual Anti-Piracy Public Service Announcement (PSA) Contest for college students co-sponsored by Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) and administered by Graceland University SIFE.

Student teams are challenged to create a one-minute anti-piracy PSA as part of a broader campaign to educate their campus and local communities about the importance of protecting intellectual property. The top three winners will receive cash prizes and the first place team will have their PSA broadcast on mtvU, MTV’s 24-hour college network.

MPAA Chairman and CEO Dan Glickman stated, “This promises to be our most exciting year since joining forces with SIFE. With the support and unparalleled ability of mtvU to reach and connect with college-aged students, we will go far towards our goal of educating young people across the country about the importance of protecting copyrights and the damaging impact of film theft. Education is crucial in our fight against piracy, and our partnership with SIFE allows us to engage our country’s brightest and most creative students in this important discussion.”

College campuses harbor some of the swiftest computer networks in the country and that, unfortunately, has led to a situation where a significant level of piracy is taking place around the clock on our nation’s campuses. It is estimated that 44% of the U.S. film industry’s domestic losses to piracy —over $500 million annually—is attributable to college students. Broadcasting to 750 campuses and viewed by over seven million college students nationwide, mtvU is the one of the largest and most comprehensive television network specifically for college students and regularly features student produced content focused on a variety of issues including pro-social initiatives.

With programs on more than 1,800 universities in 48 countries, SIFE is a business and higher education network that mobilizes university students to utilize knowledge learned in the classroom to implement projects that address real world business and economic issues in their communities.

Funded by financial contributions from corporations, business leaders, and government agencies, SIFE teams are challenged each year to develop community outreach projects that teach SIFE’s five education topics: Market Economics, Success Skills, Entrepreneurship, Business Ethics and Financial Literacy. The teams will present the results of their projects and compete to determine which team was most successful at creating economic opportunity for others at this year’s national competition in Chicago.

SIFE senior vice president of marketing Mat Burton added, “We are excited that our partnership with the MPAA allows us to bring this contest to our students. The contest is a perfect fit with SIFE – it channels the creativity and energy of the SIFE students to help facilitate a solution and educate others to a real-world economic concern.”