Besides hackers, there is another phenomenon involved on the internet which causes a lot of damage to a lot of people. The damage in this case is monetary, not privacy or security of our systems. The amusing thing is that we are all probably guilty of it. I am speaking of ‘piracy.’
When the numbers are analyzed as they are on the video above, it would be hard to say that we have never pirated, or, have been in possession of a pirated items. Some of the economic impact, both in monetary loss, but also the impact on individuals and their jobs are clearly shown in the video.
Further, when we have Netflix actually keeping track of pirated shows so that they can better understand the tastes of a particular segment of society as shown below, to determine which shows in which areas they should buy the legal rights to it is not a far reach to accept that piracy is actually something that has become accepted. Microsoft accepts that people pirate their products and as the clip below showed, actually encourage that if you pirate Microsoft software that you pirate it from them. Therefore, instead of discouraging it, they are actually encouraging the piracy of their software.
Music, which seems to be the most pirated form of media, also encourages piracy of their work be it in response to what they deem as unfair pricing from their label to just a demonstration of their art and providing the fans with what they want. It was interesting to note that some bands used the ‘they are going to do it anyway and this way they will buy tickets to our concerts,’ argument. This was actually a brilliant move in that the band is better compensated by ticket sales for concerts than they are for record sales.
There is no doubt that it is illegal. It breaks all the copyright laws that have been enacted. Further, the vast majority of the population, if not all, are guilty of it. In spite of the penalties, both monetarily and/or by imprisonment that can actually be imposed on all of us, we will continue to do it. Like pirates of old, we grab our ‘booty’ and sail away to our safe haven, but instead of Tortuga, it’s behind our keyboards.
When the numbers are analyzed as they are on the video above, it would be hard to say that we have never pirated, or, have been in possession of a pirated items. Some of the economic impact, both in monetary loss, but also the impact on individuals and their jobs are clearly shown in the video.
Further, when we have Netflix actually keeping track of pirated shows so that they can better understand the tastes of a particular segment of society as shown below, to determine which shows in which areas they should buy the legal rights to it is not a far reach to accept that piracy is actually something that has become accepted. Microsoft accepts that people pirate their products and as the clip below showed, actually encourage that if you pirate Microsoft software that you pirate it from them. Therefore, instead of discouraging it, they are actually encouraging the piracy of their software.
Music, which seems to be the most pirated form of media, also encourages piracy of their work be it in response to what they deem as unfair pricing from their label to just a demonstration of their art and providing the fans with what they want. It was interesting to note that some bands used the ‘they are going to do it anyway and this way they will buy tickets to our concerts,’ argument. This was actually a brilliant move in that the band is better compensated by ticket sales for concerts than they are for record sales.
There is no doubt that it is illegal. It breaks all the copyright laws that have been enacted. Further, the vast majority of the population, if not all, are guilty of it. In spite of the penalties, both monetarily and/or by imprisonment that can actually be imposed on all of us, we will continue to do it. Like pirates of old, we grab our ‘booty’ and sail away to our safe haven, but instead of Tortuga, it’s behind our keyboards.