Lost Revenue From Pirates. Online Piracy Essay Example

A report released last year estimated that the yearly cost in lost revenue from pirate television shows would hit $52bn (£39bn) by 2022. While it may seem like that statistic is far-fetched, it’s actually not far off. Online piracy grows rapidly every day, with new websites emerging, allowing more and more users to obtain access to free content. Money is lost every day due to free movies and games being released on various websites. Online Piracy is a controversial topic that has generated lots of discussion on whether it should be considered illegal, why it’s become controversial, and what people are doing as a result of it. Online Piracy is a method of obtaining music, movies, videos, and programs for free.

One of the ways people can pirate is through downloads off the internet. An easy way to describe piracy would be “For caveman Bob to ‘steal’ from caveman Joe meant that Bob had to take something of value from Joe, say, a piece of paper. This meant that Joe no longer had it. However, when talking about piracy, no one is losing an item in a sense.” (Green). This example is significant because it explains piracy in a straightforward way. This helps the reader understand what piracy is. Another way people pirate is through ‘torrents’, which are online keys that grant access to the paid versions of programs. An experienced user on a piracy related website explained torrents by saying “Someone has actively gone to a site to download a torrent or to look for specific media or software.” (Cook). This example is significant because it presents the idea of torrents in an easy to understand way. This helps the reader differentiate the difference between torrents and piracy. To sum it all up, Piracy can best be explained by an individual downloading any type of media for free instead of paying.

Online Piracy is a very controversial topic, and is constantly being debated about. One reason that Online Piracy is controversial is because it can affect the income of the artist that is having their work leaked. A government official analyzing the statistics of piracy said “Looking at those figures, it’s easy to come away with the idea that piracy is eventually going to bankrupt the media industry and stop anyone involved in music, TV, film, and other industries making money.” (Cook). This example helps the reader realize how much of an impact Online Piracy is having on many popular industries. This connects to the topic of why Online Piracy has become controversial because many people are upset about the chance of the media industry going bankrupt. Another reason that Online Piracy is controversial is the idea of whether it should be legal or not. A simple way to explain this would be that “The problem is that most people simply don’t buy the claim that illegally downloading a song or video from the internet is like stealing a car” (Green). This example helps the reader understand why it’s hard to answer the question, ‘Is piracy illegal?’. This is significant while talking about the ongoing controversy. Now that people know why online piracy is controversial, it's time to find out what the discussion is about. With online piracy growing larger everyday, it’s stirring up lots of discussion. One point of discussion concerning online piracy is whether it should be considered illegal for the individual to download a file from a piracy website.

A spokesman for the BPI responded “We believe it should be in the interests of any socially responsible ISP to help their customers understand what behavior is and isn’t legal.” (Wray). This example is significant because the spokesman is indirectly telling ISP’S to inform customers that online piracy is illegal. This helps the reader realize that ISP’S are not enforcing any rules on online piracy. Another point of discussion about online piracy is whether it’s a breach of people's civil liberties to shut down piracy websites. In Japan, the countries four ISP organizations have reached a “voluntary agreement to cut off WINNY, a popular file-sharing website for the use of illegally downloading games and software.” (Carvajal). This example is significant because it tells the reader that a site was shut down for sharing files. This shows that multiple sites could be shut down soon. To sum everything up, there is lots of discussion and controversy circulating around Online Piracy. What if all users who download illegal content are charged with theft? What if internet service providers started regulating users experience on the web?