The network, BitTorrent, allows users to quickly download large video files and is used by about 2.5 million people each day.
Two days ago, Waxy.org indicated rumors that the movie had been leaked were false. But Thursday the blog reported that the movie had in fact been released on BitTorrent, and provided as proof a 19-second clip of the movie taken from the network. Waxy.org reports that the video is time-stamped, indicating it may have come from within the industry rather than from someone who videotaped an advance screening.
"If piracy and those who profit from it are allowed to flourish, they will erode an engine of economic growth and job creation; undermine legitimate businesses that strive to unite technology and content in innovative and legal ways and limit quality and consumer choice," Motion Picture Association of America Inc. president and CEO Dan Glickman said Thursday in a statement.
The average cost to make and market a movie is $98 million, and less than one in 10 movies recoups its original investment from box offices in the United States, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
Lucasfilm Ltd and Fox, which distributed the film, were not immediately available for comment.