Piracy Theft: In the Past Essay

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Nonetheless, based on the impact of pirating music, movies, and software, piracy can be considered as theft. The illegal copying and distribution of illegitimately copied material has huge financial impacts on the worldwide economy. As the rate of piracy continues to increase across the world, this practice continues to cost the global economy in billions of dollars. Piracy contributes to lost tax revenues that would be beneficial to local communities as hundreds of thousands of jobs in various industries are lost. The huge financial impact is also attributed to the fact that huge amounts are spent on dealing with this practice while it hinders innovation, research, and development. Therefore, piracy tends to hurt everyone i.e. manufacturers, consumers, employees, and many other business segments or people.

Piracy is theft because the main purpose of copyright is to incentivize the manufacture of creative works and materials (Kain, 2012). The increase in online piracy continues to hurt the entertainment industry since creators of content are increasingly discouraged from innovative pursuits because of online piracy. Actually, similar to other industries, the entertainment industry has continued to struggle because on increased online piracy, especially during the recession period. Therefore, piracy is theft because digital piracy has contributed to more job losses across the board, especially in art and media industries.

Need for Online Privacy:

Due to the potential financial impact of piracy on the global economy, online privacy or privacy of the Internet is an important and crucial aspect to help promote copyright of materials.
The enhancement of privacy of the Internet is important for the protection of manufacturers, employees, and consumers of such materials. Actually, privacy of the Internet is crucial for the protection of the general public from and the protection of the rights of owners or producers of the copyrighted materials.

People who are involved in copyright infringement through pirating products should be liable for criminal prosecution that leads to sentencing to a specific jail term or heavy fines to prevent them from further involvement in piracy. While the government should ensure that necessary policies are established to combat piracy, it should institute an anti-theft unit or agency that deals with this practice. Generally online privacy is important to help people maintain autonomy and individuality and because of its functional benefits to the economy.

Conclusion:

Piracy has hit a new high in the past few years mainly because people were used to copying music and movies freely during the time of cassette tapes. Nonetheless, the enhancement of privacy of the Internet is vital for protection of the entire society.

References:

Billy, M. (2011, March 5). Is 'Piracy' Theft? A Response to Mike LaBossiere. Retrieved June 28,

2012, from http://blog.mikebilly.com/2011/03/is-piracy-theft-a-response-to-mike-labossiere/

Kain, E. (2012, January 21). Does Online Piracy Hurt the Entertainment Industry? Retrieved

June 28, 2012, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/01/21/does-online-piracy-hurt-the-economy-a-look-at-the-numbers/

Muller, R. (2012, May 21). Is Online Piracy Theft? Retrieved June 28, 2012, from http://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/50569-is-online-piracy-theft.html.....

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