Online Piracy and the Protection of Copyright

Is online piracy an ethical action? Is it a victimless crime?

Amanda Rosenblum English 1A

Internet piracy has become a widespread option for many people living in the digital age. With the past year topping four billion dollars in digital revenue, and the overarching decline in American music sales since the introduction of the pioneer peer-to-peer file-sharing site Napster, (RIAA, Scope of the Problem) the entertainment industry has without a doubt suffered some losses. But online piracy itself is such a popular, ambiguously viable course of action in getting music and movies its free, easy, and ramifications are almost nil. Why the worry? Is it really such an issue? When so many people engage in the act, and there is an online theme of everything is everyones information on the internet, even movies, music, and other forms of pirated entertainment, is it really illegal? Is the age of online piracy the second Prohibition?

My thesis is that the act of online piracy, while cheap (free, really), easy, and without any form of reprimand almost a hundred percent of the time, is nonetheless a crime, albeit a minute one. If online piracy were a rare event seldom ever even documented, my stance on the matter would be far different, and I might not even have an opinion on it to boot. It would appear to me as it is seen now to most petty theft. However, when the act of piracy is committed en masse as it is currently, the

entertainment industry which in actuality is a smaller venture in regards to American business than most would believe is slowly eaten away, and those who take part in it lose their share of revenue. It is not petty theft at this point. It has become grand theft.

Let us look at the modem used in online piracy peer-to-peer file transfer through uploading and downloading. According to Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, the practices of the uploading and downloading are discussed in a positive light. He hails it one of the most revolutionary forms of collaboration in the flat world, And that More than ever, we can all now be producers, not just consumers. (Friedman, 95). There is no doubt that the advent of online collaboration is a palpable force in the digital age of the new millennium, and Friedman himself believes that this era of uploading and downloading gives the individual the power of presentation to millions of other people. However, he does not ignore the issue of online piracy through peer-to-peer file sharing and addresses the problem with uploading. The peer-to-peer file transfer is used by Person A, the Uploader, to seed, or send out pirated, copyrighted material to Person B, C, D, and so on. When a track is seeded for countless people to download, one can only imagine the loss in that tracks revenue when twenty, thirty, or forty seeds of that exact same track are sent out to the public on peer-to-peer file-transfer sites.

This hurts the entertainment industry not only on a financial scale, but also in terms of its reputation and perceived attitude of snobbery regarding the average

American. In this day and age we live in a society with the belief that Whats mine is mine and whats yours is mine. That is to say, we are entitled to be given free tracks and movies because if you dont meet our desires, you (the entertainment industry) are perceived as greedy jerks who simply cannot comprehend that you do not need the revenue/ royalties, and you should be ashamed for not sharing with us what you made. Clearly, this attitude is prevalent everywhere (if one wants proof of this, just look at what happened to the Stop Online Piracy Act.), and when a tiny fraction of Americans are connected with Hollywood, the majority obviously wins, and is thus able to demonize the entertainment industry as said greedy jerks. When pushed far enough, and with the utter failure of the Stop Online Piracy Act to launch, the American entertainment industry can only anticipate a slow surrender to the act of online piracy, and the demise of the venture.

But what about the fact that those celebrities who get their work pirated are already wealthy why is it so bad to steal a song from somebody who is already rich to begin with? This argument is of course a piece of the figurehead of the online pirate ship, the other being the romanticized everything should be freely available to the public and that includes entertainment mediums argument. But lets look at this rich celebrity portion because this is the argument most often brought up by those in favor of online piracy. Basically if a celebrity made a song or starred in a film, he or she is part of the receiving end of royalties, and thats that. It seems like a blunt statement, and for the most part it is, but it is the truth. When an artists work is pirated he or she is not getting the royalties he or she deserves, seeing that the

artist/group of artists acted alone in writing the song. An even bigger problem happens when an obscure artist gets his or her music pirated, and does not have the financial weight of bigger stars. When an artists work is pirated, said artist does not get the money that people should be paying.

Now we will move on to another counterargument the argument that online piracy is not causing a rapid decline in the entertainment industrys revenues, but is actually helping it to stay afloat, and that the entertainment industry is really standing its ground in regards to the whole online piracy issue. In an article by Eric Pfeiffer, it is stated that Contrary to the industry claims, the music industry is not in terminal decline, but still holding ground and showing healthy profits. (Pfeiffer, New Study Says Online Piracy Isnt Hurting Entertainment Industry). This is a better argument because it actually flips the entire issue around and goes on to say that our entertainment industry is being helped by those online pirates. But this new study fails to address the future acts of piracy and peer-to-peer file sharers, which will inevitably bring about more losses in revenue than the pirates who help Hollywood can fix. This is not saying that those people who pirate and share copyrighted media dont contribute to the entertainment industry in other ways, such as actually going to see movies, attending entertainment conventions, or seeing live shows, all of which help their respective artists out. But piracy is piracy, and the lost revenue taken out by online piracy is still large.

Another argument is that online piracy is not even as popular as it once was, and that it is even on the wane in America. In an article written by Erika Morphy, it is postulated that by the use of video-streaming sites and services like Hulu and Netflix, the instances of online piracy are actually decreasing in their occurrences. It says that Sandvine has released a new report on global Internet traffic that points to the growth of online data consumption and implies that the increasing use of legitimate content services such as Netflix may be softening the impact of illegal P2P file sharing. (Morphy, Slippery Statistics Suggest Online Piracy Is On The Wane) This at first glace seems like a wonderful prospect the use of perfectly legal services that people sign up and pay for are actually helping in decreasing the incidents of illegal online piracy. This should be a good thing, but in the exact same article it is stated by industry analyst Jeff Kagan that Online piracy is booming by any measure, and that I dont see how anyone could conclude that its not. Sandvine, the company that made the report and released it, has declined to confront these contradictions. It is true that the use of these new, legitimate sources of entertainment (Netflix, ect.) have helped pave a way for the entertainment industry to reach out to people and further understand consumers wishes in regards to entertainment. Even so, the act of online piracy in no way helps the entertainment industry, and is still undermining it, regardless of its current standing on the bandwidth.

On a personal level, the biggest qualm I have about online piracy is not its pervasiveness, or the lack of public awareness regarding it, but actually online

pirates refusal to admit that no matter how small, it is still a theft on their part, and it does affect the entertainment industry on a larger scale. When this is coupled with participants belief that the artist should not receive any royalties that would otherwise come to him or her through more legitimate means, and not online piracy, as they are already rich enough as it is. Does this mean that it is okay to steal an artists work just because they have a higher income? What about those smaller artists? Online pirates still steal from them and their incomes are so much smaller. Remember, copyright was instituted to protect those mediums that were held to be beneficial to the public at large from thievery, and by that logic to protect the owner of the copyrighted material. As of late this institution has been thrown under the bus and is on its way to being forgotten, because Whats mine is mine and whats yours is mine.

Annotated Bibliography (Works Cited)

Friedman, Thomas L. The Ten Forces That Flattened The World. The World Is Flat: A Brief History Of The Twenty-first Century. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005. N. pag. Print. Thomas L. Friedman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who serves as the foreign affairs columnist for The New York Times. Friedman, on the matter of the uploading of information and copyright, finds the practice of uploading one of the most revolutionary forms of collaboration in the flat world. And that More than ever, we can all now be producers, not just consumers. (Friedman, 95) The case is made in the chapter that anyone with Internet access and an idea now has the ability to take said idea and put it online for the world to see. This can be a good thing, of course, in that people can share there own information and ideas with others all over the world, but Friedman also points out online piracy and uploadings role in terrorism. The Law. Http://www.riaa.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. (RIAA, Home Page). It protects the financial and intellectual property and earnings of those artists and musicians involved with music labels. On the topic of file sharing and online privacy, it believes that music theft and online piracy is a real crime, and gives examples of digital piracy and copyright infringement. Policy Home at The University of West Georgia. Policy. N.p., n.d. Web. 11. Nov. 2013. University Policy serves to promote the academic standards and rules for the University of West Georgia. It claims that the reproduction of an artists recordings have to be checked and given permission to be released by the creator(s), and that without proper authorization, legal action may be taken. It gives a general outline of the acts of both online piracy and copyright infringement, as well as a description of copyright and software piracy. It also gives information on what one should do should he or she stumble upon a piracy site. How Hollywood Is Encouraging Online Piracy: Scientific American. How Hollywood Is Encouraging Online Piracy: Scientific American. N.p., n.d. Web. 11. Nov. 2013. This article demonstrates the idea that by the decline of sales for DVDs, and the demise of such video-renting stores as Blockbuster, the use of internet uploading and streaming is actually reinforced by Hollywood. It also showcases peoples want to immediately stream the movies that they want to watch without

the drive to a movie-renting store, or waiting a few days for a film to arrive in the mail. It is written by David Pogue, a writer and scientific presenter specializing in technology.

Risen, Tom. Online Piracy Grows, Reflecting Consumer Trends. US News. U.S. News and World Report, 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. This article demonstrates the growth of illegal file sharing and downloading since 2011. It tells us that over 432 million web users download illegal files. It also shows that the use and range of illegal file sharing is so popular and widespread, it can now be used to track consumer trends all over the country. The article is written by Tom Risen, a technology and business reporter.

Pfeiffer, Eric. New Study Says Online Piracy Isnt Hurting Entertainment Industry. Yahoo. Yahoo! News. Yahoo!, 03 Oct. 2013. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. This article shows a new study which rubs against the common argument that online piracy and illegal downloads are decimating the entertainment industry of America. It states that the music and film industry is not in a rapid decline, nor has it come to a halt, but that it still has good profits and is standing its ground. It also claims that those individuals who do pirate copyrighted content actually are more likely to go out and spend money on films, games, and music. Eric Pfeiffer is a blogger for Yahoo News.

Morphy, Erika. Slippery Statistics Suggest Online Piracy Is On The Wane. E-

Commerce Times: E-Business Means Business. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2013. This article, written by E-Commerce Times columnist and marketing spokesperson Erika Morphy demonstrates to us the perceived impact of online piracy from shared Peer-to-Peer files, and also shows the surging Internet use in America. It also shows that BitTorrent, a popular file-sharing network, is actually in decline for users. Meanwhile, services like Netflix take up 33 percent of bandwidth, though it also claims that there is no established connection between the use of Netflix and BitTorrent.