2. Internet Piracy By Malik Chehab Section 003

3. Piracy Overview Internet piracy has been a hotly debated topic for over a decade now. There have been people arguing against it and for it, and opinions switch back and forth constantly. Many people across the world have been prosecuted or fined for using these preexisting websites for file sharing. This places blame on the users and not the hosts of the content.

4. Brief Timeline of Internet Piracy Napster Founded (1999) P2P transfer software for music files Faced lawsuits from music band Metallica after a demo of their song was leaked Pirate Bay Controversy Criminal prosecution of four individuals for promoting copyright infringement through sharing website SOPA Controversial bill introduced to the House in order to combat online copyright infringement, ultimately failed

5. Most Popular File Sharing Websites Mega Founded by Kim Dotcom after the fallout from MegaUpload in 2013. The files on this website are encrypted to safeguard from government agencies. Kat.cr Founded in 2008, offers torrents and magnet links for different forms of media. The Pirate Bay Perhaps one of the most famous torrent websites. Founded in 2003 by 3 Swedish citizens.

6. Does Piracy Have Any Benefits? Video game piracy for example can be helpful to allow people to try a game before purchasing it. Most manufacturers don’t release demo’s for games anymore. According to Yahoo’s Jeff Cuellar, most industries that claim to suffer massive losses due to piracy are actually doing quite well. https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/why-digital-piracy-may-good- 160000146.html https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/why-digital-piracy-may-good- 160000146.html

7. Does Piracy Have Any Benefits? Occasionally piracy can have righteous intentions. By uploading creative software like photoshop or music software, this can help students and people who otherwise are less fortunate have access to high end products. It’s not only just about getting a product, “it’s also about economic contribution” [2]. A person can get hours of experience that they might not be able to get if they don’t have access to a program at home as well as in their work or school.

8. Music Piracy Music piracy in general is a very touchy subject. Some musicians argue that it’s taking money out of their pockets each time you download a song. This however can be offset by doing live performances, and by releasing content for free or having it leak, it often reaches a much wider audience. Streaming websites have also come under fire for similar problems, although this is often seen as a much softer way of avoiding copyright issues.

9. Music Piracy Many people have moved on to music subscription based websites. 20 million people in the US use p2p file sharing methods. This is contrasted by around 7.7 million who used music subscriptions [4] like Spotify or Google Play Music. Clearly this hasn’t completely fixed the problem, however it helped quite a bit.

10. Who Should Be Held Accountable? Frequently in the media there are cases against individuals for illegally downloading content. This often misses the point that the individual would’ve never been able to do so without the help of a specific hosting website. While the blame placing is somewhat of a split, the government shouldn’t pursue the individuals, especially in smaller cases. In 2014 a US Federal judge in Washington ruled that internet pirates should not be prosecuted simply because their IP address shows up in a list for illegally downloaded files. [3] This offers a small amount of leniency in most situations for individuals on the internet. The idea is that an IP address alone does not prove someone’s guilt, because there are too many variables associated with that method.

11. Who Should Be Held Accountable? Major copyright holders in the movie and music industry will often entrap users of torrent and download websites. They will put fake files online, and then track and report the IP addresses of anyone who downloads it to sue them. [3] This intentionally hostile act on the part of the industry puts them in the wrong.

12. Who Should Be Held Accountable? Placing the blame solely on the user also ignores the fact that most filesharing hosts are actually making the money off of uploading copyrighted content. On networks like Usenet, users would subscribe for some amount of money each month to use the services. This money ends up directly into the hands of pirates. [2]

13. MegaUpload and Kim Dotcom Kim Dotcom, the creator of the file hosting website “Megaupload” was arrested in 2012 and his website was shut down by the FBI. He was shown to have “more than $50 million” in his bank accounts, and owned a Rolls- Royce. [2] The sheer volume of his wealth and assets shows the disconnect between the professional pirate/content host and the average joe user.

14. References 1. Cuellar, Jeff. "Why Digital Piracy May Be Good For The Creative Industry." Yahoo Singapore Finance. Yahoo.com, 21 Mar. 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. 2. Witt, Stephen. "Illegal Music Sharing Had to Die. I Was Still Sad to Let It Go."Slate.com. Slate.com, 24 June 2015. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. 3. N/a. "IP Address Does Not Prove Online Piracy, US Judge Says in Landmark Ruling." RT International. RT, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. 4. Faughnder, Ryan. "Music Piracy Is down but Still Very Much in Play." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 28 June 2015. Web. 09 Apr. 2016.