Piracy
Recently, The Toronto Star published an article entitled "RCMP seizes BBS,
piracy charges pending." The RCMP have possessed all computer components
belonging to the "90 North" bulletin board system in Montreal, Quebec. The
board is accused of allowing people the opportunity to download (get) commercial
and beta (or commercial) software versions. I feel that the RCMP should not
charge people that are linked to computer piracy, because the pirated software
offers valuable opportunity to programmers and users. Also, revenue lost to the
large software companies is such a small amount that the effect won't be greatly
felt by them and so it is not worth the policing effort required to track down
the pirates.
When pirates distribute the illegal software, one could say that they are
helping, than hurting the software companies. By distributing the software
world wide, it creates great advertisement for the software companies and their
products. Although the software company is losing profits from that particular
version, it could generate future sales with other versions. Also, when the
pirates distribute the software this could be a great source of test data for
the software companies. This is an effective way to catch any unfounded bugs in
the software program. From debugging to hacking, hackers can benefit the most.
They can study and learn from the advancements with in the programming.
So what does all this activity tell us? This tells us the people are
willing to go to great lengths to get software at a lower cost, or possibly in
exchange for other software and that they are succeeding in their efforts.
Although more than 50% of their software income is from other companies which do
not pirate, this poses a problem for the software industries. By fining a
single bulletin board out of the thousands in North America, there would be
little accomplished. Not to mention the fact the it is extremely difficult to
prove and convict people under the Copyright Act. In today's society, revenue
from software is such a small income source for corporations such as WordPerfect
Corp. These companies make their money mainly from individuals purchasing extra
manuals, reference material, supplementary hardware, and calling product support.
Software companies are conscious of the pirate world and the changes they have
made. Some companies actually want you to take the software by using the
SHAREWARE concept. In SHAREWARE one gets a chance to use demo programs and then
pay for the full purchase if he feels it is worthwhile. It is a bit like test
driving a car, before one buys. In most cases, users are happy and end up
The simple car that was easy to fix with some simple tools have now become as complex as a supercomputer on wheels. Most people today have decided that automobiles of today are too complicated and just send their cars to a professional for repairs. As of January 2013, the average age of a vehicle operating on the roads today is 11.4 years old. (Associated Press, 2013). People are holding on to their cars a lot longer than in the past. Although, some claim that it is because today’s cars last longer. There is no doubt that today’s economy is also playing a part in the public’s reluctance to part with their older vehicles. However, cars will always need repairs.
Sea robbers: These pirates were not faithful to any government and roamed in the open seas.
... Other contributing factors could be the person’s gender, generational differences, religion, or fear of retaliation.
People have been finding alternative ways to access their music since technology evolved, whether it was recording songs off the radio onto a cassette tape or borrowing your friend’s CD in order to ‘burn’ it, No one played by the rules, legally. This piece will discuss illegally downloading music and the political theories and concepts it represents. What are the social norms and attitudes that drive this behaviour? and what is the solution, if there is one?
Modern piracy has touched nearly every corner of the globe and has increased with globalization. The tentacles of piracy now extend from South America to the South China Sea. The greatest numbers of piracy incidents occur along maritime commercial trade routes. Since China dominates the world’s container shipping industry, the South China Sea has become a hotspot for piracy (Kraska 2011). The prominence of cargo activity increases opportunity for pirates and indisputably triggered the sixty- nine incidents of piracy that were reported in 2009 in the South China Sea (Kraska 2011).
Everyday you probably see people talking or jogging by with earphones in, the chances of that person listening to illegally downloaded music is huge. According to the Recording Industry of America reports “63% of U.S. people illegally download music” (RIAA). Also, according to Stop Online Piracy Act (sopa)- they argue that online piracy is a larger problem than most people truly think, one that cost the U.S. economy between $200 and $250 Billion per year, and it responsible for the loss of 750,000 American jobs. Some people understand the economic cost and problems of music piracy, others say it doesn’t matter is these superstars lose a little but of profit. But I think that if they are working hard and trying to provide entertainment for people then we should at least provide them with pay to make sure that they are still able to do what they love to do. According to the University of Pennsylvania Law Review, in 2011 was thought to be promising for record labels, as total albums sales increased by a whole 1.3%, though the industry’s struggle are still continuing for the sales then dropped 4% in 2012. The Pennsylvania Law Review also states that, as much as 95% of music is downloaded illegally yearly, for free. The quality of music being created is greatly affected by music piracy, but people are so interested in the free music people don’t take it into account.
The Golden Age of Piracy began around 1650, and ended around 1730. Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea, but can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the criminal. The term has been used throughout history to refer to raids across land borders by non-state agents. A pirate is one who commits robberies at sea, usually without being allotted to do so by any particular nation. The usual crime for piracy can include being hung, or publically executed. Some of the most famous pirates who were killed either because of piracy, or because of natural causes, are Barbarossa, Stede Bonnet, Anne Bonney, Sir Francis Drake, Captain Greaves, William Kidd, Jean Laffite, Sir Henry Morgan, Mary Read, and Giovanni da Verrazano.
The protection of trade in general has always been considered as essential to the defense of the commonwealth, and, upon that account, a necessary part of the duty of the executive power.
This report aims to provide a mix review of theories and personal case study. I will apply two consumer behaviour theories in relation to my own purchase decisions.
At the turn of the millenium, the music industry has been faced with an unforeseen phenomenon that has affected its very foundation - mass scale music piracy. The decline of CD sales in the past three years have been blamed on the availability of songs that can be downloaded from Internet sites and service providers like Napster, KaZaA and Morpheus free of charge. Today the issue of intellectual copyright infringement in music has been taken more seriously than ever before, as large record labels and companies like Sony and EMI struggle to maintain healthy album sales in the face of online music piracy. In addition, music piracy affects more than just the corporate world - it affects the very artists who create music and receive no compensation for their efforts. In fact ?many high-profile and buzz artists, including Eminem, Oasis and most recently 50 Cent, have seen their upcoming albums undercut by file-sharing online before their scheduled releases, prompting record labels to move up street dates to avoid losing album sales.? (Grossberg) In light of this, are a few positive aspects in the face of such widespread negativity but music file sharing continues to be a controversial topic in the world of music and the arts in general.
Corporate copyright industry controllers publicly voice concerns about globally lost revenue, vocally touting that pirates take part in criminal action that pressures companies into downsizing employee numbers and decreasing investment in future endeavors. Music, film, TV, movie, and softwares industries are all worth billions of dollars, with record companies alone bringing in nearly $25 billion dollars. As a consumer, it’s hard to reconcile the thought of a $25 billion dollar industry claiming piracy revenue losses well into the hundreds of billions. Industry advocates cite any act of media piracy as a harmful act and an act that inhibits them from making money; therefore the perceived loss or potential loss of those hundreds of billions
...the demands of driving, but the fundamental problem may be the behaviour of the individuals willing to pick up the technology" (Reimer, 2009).
paid for. The pirate has a set of excuses for his actions: prices are too high;
Internet piracy is not a victimless crime. Piracy is a term used to describe the illegal downloading of music, movies, games, and even software online. Although many people don’t feel that piracy is a crime that affects anybody, it really does. People pirate stuff online because it is free and does not require one to run to a store to get their product. People that pirate these things don’t think of the repercussions that go along with it. You can have to serve up to 10 years in prison, and pay a fine of $250,000.
All around the world people connected to the internet are downloading free digital content through P2P file sharing software.