Piracy

Piracy

James Dunn

Professor Alfred J Raga Jr

CIS 234

Strayer University

SEPT 05 2012

Piracy is defined as the practice of a pirate; robbery or illegal violence at sea. Robbery and illegal are the key words in this definition. The modern day definition of piracy stems a bit further from the ocean, however. Dictionary.com states that piracy is the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc. There are many forms of piracy and the names have begun to be used interchangeably. Counterfeiting is the copying of the sound, artwork, label, and packaging of the original recording. The aim is to mislead the consumer into thinking their buying the genuine product. Bootlegging is the recording, duplication, and sale of a performance, such as a live concert without the permission of the artist or recording company. End user piracy is the copying of the same software onto more than one computer. This includes installing software on multiple computers in one persons home, or allowing a friend to “borrow” the software disk so they can install it on their computer as well. This also includes reselling or giving away old software. The most common right now it Internet piracy, which is the distribution of copyrighted software via the internet without the proper distribution rights. (Anti-piracy, 2012) With ever increasing technology, piracy is becoming more and more abundant and harder to track. Millions are guilty of piracy, be it due to ignorance or by choice. Regardless, piracy is in fact an illegal criminal activity, and everyone should be aware of the laws, possible consequences, and damages that it causes.

Piracy has only recently become a global problem for production industries. When cassettes were introduced in the late 70’s/early 80s, there was indeed copy right infringement but on a very low scale. Most radio listeners stood by, cassette in place waiting to...