On the demand side, the digital consumption of media products is accompanied by the emergence of digital piracy. Whilst copying had already been technically feasible during the era of video cassettes, it required certain equipment and piracy behaviour was limited (Waterman et al., 2007). The rise of the computer and World Wide Web, however, simplified the unauthorised duplication and storage of copyrighted content and caused movie piracy to soar substantially (Fetscherin, 2005). Digital piracy can generally occur offline (through the copying of discs and files) and online (through the downloading and sharing of files). A recent study revealed that approximately 24% of global internet traffic is copyright infringing, with peer-to-peer networks accounting for half of that amount (Envisional, 2011). Furthermore, internet piracy facilitates the sharing of movies during and even before their official theatrical release through either leaked insider copies or recordings in the cinema, which means that contemporary digital piracy affects all windows of the industry (Byers, 2003; Kwok, 2004). Academically, there is little disagreement regarding the effects and the scope of piracy on the motion picture industry as a whole and on box-office revenues in particular. Whereas an overall positive impact of piracy on cinema admissions is only attested by one found study (Ji, 2007) and explained through the existence of network externalities and diffusion processes of information (Peitz & Waelbroeck, 2006), the vast majority of literature acknowledges the prevailing existence of a negative and damaging effect of movie piracy. Using a sample of 500 university students, Rob and Waldfogel (2007) found that piracy displaces paid movie consumption a... ... middle of paper ... ...zier, J.; McMahon, J. & Kattan, M. (1996) “The impact of cross-national carriers of business ethics on attitudes about questionable practices and form of moral reasoning”, Journal of International Business Studies, 27(2), pp. 391–411. Shore, B.; Venkatachalam, A.; Solorzano, E.; Burn, J.; Hassan, S. & Janczewski, E. (2001) “Softlifting and piracy: behavior across cultures”, Technology in Society, 23(4), pp. 563–581. Moretti, E. (2011) “Social Learning and Peer Effects in Consumption: Evidence from Movie Sales”, Review of Economic Studies, 78(1), pp. 356-393. Avrich, B. (2005) Selling the Sizzle 2 – The magic and logic of entertainment marketing. Toronto: Maxworks Publications Einav, L. (2007) “Seasonality in the U.S. motion picture industry”, The RAND Journal of Economics, 38(1), pp. 127-145. Weigel, D. (2008) “Downloading Lies”, Reason, 40(1), p. 10.
Recently, there has been a series of copyright infringement litigations against Internet businesses that are involved with unauthorized distribution of music files. The US recording industry claims to lose three million dollars per year because of piracy. A report predicted an estimated 16 percent of all US music sales, or 985 million dollars would be lost due to online piracy by 2002 (Foege, 2000; cited from McCourt & Burkart, 2003) Even though this claim has to be taken with caution, as it is based on false assumption that if copyright laws were strictly enforced, audio pirates would become buyers, it is apparent that audio piracy grew to a worrisome level for the record industry. (Gayer & Shy, 2003)
It is first beneficial to know the definition of piracy. Piracy has been characterized multiple ways from multiple disciplines. For the purpose of this paper, I will apply the definition of piracy from the 1982 United ...
Business ethics simply can be defined as the application of business values in the business practice of a company (Seawell 2010, p. 2). For a multinational company, business ethics is one of the critical aspects need to be taken into account in business decision-making processes. Failure to give attention on ethics may bring consequences on company’s reputation (Meyer & Jebe 2010, p. 159). The company is expected not only to pursue its own profits but also contributing to the environmental and social welfare of the community where it operates (Svensson & Wood 2008, p. 308).
A Worldwide Problem Software piracy is defined as the illegal copying of software for commercial or personal gain. Software companies have tried many methods to prevent piracy, with varying degrees of success. Several agencies like the Software Publishers Association and the Business Software Alliance have been formed to combat both worldwide and domestic piracy. Software piracy is an unresolved, worldwide problem, costing millions of dollars in lost revenue. Software companies have used many different copy protection schemes. The most annoying form of copy protection is the use of a key disk. This type of copy protection requires the user to insert the original disk every time the program is run. It can be quite difficult to keep up with disks that are years old. The most common technique of copy protection requires the user to look up a word or phrase in the program's manual. This method is less annoying than other forms of copy protection, but it can be a nuisance having to locate the manual every time. Software pirates usually have no trouble "cracking" the program, which permanently removes the copy protection. After the invention of CD-ROM, which until lately was uncopyable, most software companies stopped placing copy protection in their programs. Instead, the companies are trying new methods of disc impression. 3M recently developed a new technology of disc impression which allows companies to imprint an image on the read side of a CD-ROM. This technology would not prevent pirates from copying the CD, but it would make a "bootleg" copy differ from the original and make the copy traceable by law enforcement officials (Estes 89). Sometimes, when a person uses a pirated program, there is a "virus" attached to the program. Viruses are self-replicating programs that, when activated, can damage a computer. These viruses are most commonly found on pirated computer games, placed there by some malignant computer programmer. In his January 1993 article, Chris O' Malley points out that if piracy was wiped out viruses would eventually disappear (O' Malley 60). There are ways that a thrifty consumer can save money on software without resorting to piracy. Computer companies often offer discounts on new software if a person has previously purchased an earlier version of the software. Competition between companies also drives prices low and keeps the number of pirated copies down (Morgan 45). People eventually tire or outgrow their software and decide to sell it.
"Study Shows Online Piracy Is Good for Showbiz." WebProNews. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
Strinati, D. (2004). An Introduction to Theories of Popular Culture (pp. 52-79). New York, NY USA: Taylor & Francis.
Slater, D. quoted in Bell D. and Hollows J. (2005). Ordinary Lifestyles: Popular Media, Consumption and Taste, Maidenhead: Open University Press, Page 178
Physical piracy-the copying and illegal sale of hard-copy CDs, videotapes, and DVDs-costs the music industry over $4 billion a year worldwide and the movie industry more than $3.5 billion. These numbers do not factor in the growing (and difficult to measure) problem of Internet piracy, in which music and movies are transferred to digital format and copies are made of the resulting computer file. Journalist Charles C. Mann explains why Internet piracy has the potential to be vastly more damaging to copyright industr...
paid for. The pirate has a set of excuses for his actions: prices are too high;
The PC industry is just over 20 years old. In those 20 years, both the quality
Online piracy is a huge problem, one which costs the U.S. economy between $200 and $250 billion per year, and is responsible for the loss of 750,000 American jobs. These numbers seem huge: $250 billion per year loss would be almost $800 for every man, woman, and child in America. And 750,000 jobs – that’s twice the number of those employed in the entire motion picture industry in 2010 (Freakonomics). In 2010, the Government Accountability Office released a report noting that these figures “can be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology,” which in English means these figures are legitimate and that piracy really does hurt our economy.
The first reason why downloading and uploading copyrighted materials from the Internet should be legal is that downloading copyrighted materials positively affects the economy. The European Commission Joint Research Center reported that the profits of music companies would be 2% lower if uploading and downloading copyrighted materials were banned. However, music companies are able to acquire more profits despite illegal downloading because many people tend to purchase CDs or DVDs after watching or listening to copyrighted materials for free. Moreover, the research showed that people who download music illegally spent more money to buy music than people who did not download illegally. In addition, research conducted by the Swiss government informed that one-third of Swiss people downloaded copyrighted materials from the Internet because personal use of copyrighted materials is legal in Switzerland. Even though there is a fact that many people can download copyrighted materials from the Internet legally in Switzerland, the amount of money that people spend to buy copyrighted materials is not f...
According to the book “Pirate’s Dilemma,” “Are Pirates have to scupper us? Are they a threat to be battled or innovators we should compete with and learn from?” (Matt Mason 4). Piracy has and will always be a threat to the whole media industry and of course the economy. As long as people can download for free or buy never been released movies in a cheaper price, there is no way media industries can compete with that.
All around the world people connected to the internet are downloading free digital content through P2P file sharing software.
Music piracy is a developing problem that it affects the music industry in many different ways including being responsible for the unemployment of 750,000 workers, as well as a loss of $2,5 billion; therefore, I want to explore ‘To what extent has music piracy affected the music industry market in the United States over the last 10 years?’