LOS ANGELES - In the midst of a film industry crackdown on digital movie piracy, filmmaker Robert Greenwald is urging rampant, unauthorised copying of his documentary criticising the Bush administration's reasons for invading Iraq.

The 56-minute film, "Uncovered: The Whole Truth about the Iraq War," concludes that President George W. Bush and his team distorted intelligence data and misled the American public ahead of the March invasion that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Greenwald has bypassed cinemas and television, and instead has organised "parlour screenings" in thousands of homes across the United States with the help of Internet-based liberal advocacy group, MoveOn.org.

People attending can buy DVD or VHS copies that they in turn are urged to reproduce and pass along for free to others.

"You have my permission to give it away. This film is meant to be a tool, so you will take it and do with it as you will," Greenwald implored a recent audience in Los Angeles.

Some 50,000 copies have been sold, raising nearly $800,000 (452,500 pounds), since the campaign began in November, organisers said.

Greenwald said proceeds will go toward the cost of the film and future projects. Last Sunday alone, nearly 3,000 parlour screenings were held simultaneously where "Uncovered" was seen by about 100,000 people, said co-producer Kate McCardle.

Greenwald, whose previous credits include the feature film "Steal This Movie" about 1960s radical Abbie Hoffman, believes his film may be the first to be widely circulated in such a manner. It's a strategy that runs contrary to current Hollywood studio policy to carefully control film distribution and safeguard intellectual property at all costs.

"It's real democracy in action," he told Reuters.

RALLYING CRY

The film features former CIA officials, diplomats, weapons inspectors and military experts rebutting administration prewar assertions that Iraq posed a threat to the United States. They conclude the White House exaggerated, ignored or manipulated intelligence to fabricate reasons for deposing Hussein.

Their comments are juxtaposed with statements by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other officials making a case that Iraq was aligned with terrorists and held weapons of mass destruction.

As intended, the film has become a rallying cry for anti-war activists and Bush administration critics.

Financed by MoveOn and the left-leaning Center for American Progress, headed by former President Bill Clinton's chief of staff, John Podesta, the film has since drawn the support of such groups as Veterans for Peace, Military Families Speak Out and Physicians for Social Responsibility.

On Wednesday night, an invitation-only showing in Los Angeles drew a handful of notable celebrities, including Ed Asner and James Cromwell, and representatives of four Democrats running for president -- Howard Dean, John Kerry, Wesley Clark and Dennis Kucinich -- who embraced the movie and its message.

All four have criticised U.S. conduct toward Iraq, and made it a centrepiece of their campaigns. They seized on "Uncovered" as a means of refocusing attention on the origins of the war at a time when the Bush administration is exalting in the recent capture of Saddam Hussein.

"It's a rare show of unity," Kerry campaign representative Jennifer Hidges said. "We agree that we were lied to ... so there's a sense of betrayal among a lot of Democrats."

©2003 Reuters Ltd

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