I just had this pointed out to me, folks, but apparently the crew over at The IT Crowd took a stab at those wonderfully ridiculous “you wouldn’t steal” ads that the MPAA was putting out in a desperate bid to prevent movie piracy.

Of course, this being The IT Crowd, they packed it full of technical references and humor, and we’ve got the video directly below for you to enjoy.

The critical thing to this performance is that you have to realize that, until about thirteen seconds in, their ad is virtually identical to an earlier ad released by the MPAA, only with a different voice-over.  It’s after that point that the parody ad goes so wildly off the rails as to be unrecognizable, but it maintains that same overall tone of the original, that somehow, sharing movies amongst your friends via digital means is the direct legal and moral equivalent of jamming said movie into your coat at the video store and walking out.

The IT Crowd, thankfully, helps us all get a dose of perspective by showing us how ludicrous this stance actually is.

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