Hollywood's greatest fear became a reality on Tuesday as film industry officials said a digital version of an Oscar "screener" was seen on the Internet after months of industry squabbling over whether sending out the videos to Academy Award voters would lead to movie piracy. A copy of Sony Pictures Entertainment's "Something's Gotta Give" that was sent to an Oscar voter was found to be downloadable from the Internet to a home PC, a spokesman for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, said.

"Sony let us know late last week that one had appeared on the Internet," Academy spokesman John Pavlik told Reuters.

The studios have all encrypted copies of their screener tapes with special codes to trace them to their recipients. The Los Angeles Times reported that the digitized tape was linked to a Carmine Caridi, 69, a film and TV actor who appeared in "The Godfather: Part II," but officials declined comment. Caridi could not be reached for comment.

Full story here.