Digital Piracy

Narratives

• Trevor is doing a project for school. Since he is very adept at video mashups, he decides to use clips from different TV shows and movies to assist him with the project. After completing the masterpiece, Trevor is very excited about his work and wants not only his class but also the whole world to see his creation. Due to the fact that long segments of copyrighted material were used in the making of this clip, he decides to post the video onto YouTube with an obscure name to avoid detection and uploads it onto five other video sharing services DailyMotion, Revver, GoFish, MySpace Video, and Facebook Video to act as mirrors. He then embeds the clip onto his blog and uses IM, email, text messaging, and Twitter to spread the word about this update.

Involves the use of the following applications: Adobe Premiere, Audacity, Trillian, Thunderbird

And services: YouTube, Daily Motion, Revver, GoFish, MySpace, Facebook, Textem, and Twitter.

• Questions raised from this scenario:
  • What constitutes fair use?
  • Do copyright laws impede creativity?

• Trevor and friends are hanging out in his basement on a lazy Sunday afternoon. They just watched a trailer of an upcoming blockbuster film and the whole group is very excited -- they can’t wait to get in line to see the first midnight showing. Unfortunately, the film’s release date is one week away. With nothing else to do, Trevor proposes that he could obtain a copy of the film via a private torrent network whose administrator is a member of an infamous release group. A few of his friends brings up the concern about piracy, but since the group is at Trevor’s house, using Trevor's internet connection, nobody objects -- in fact, a few never realized this was possible. After a quick debate about what to do, soon the majority of the group wants the movie downloaded and burned to discs for everyone to have.

Involves the use of the following applications: Quicktime, uTorrent, PeerGuardian 2, DivX Player, XviD Video Codec, AC3 Audio Codec

And services: <Torrent Website>, <Release Group>

• Questions raised from this scenario:
  • Who should be more responsible for the piracy? The release group or the end user?
  • How does group mentality play affect piracy?

• After seeing Trevor successfully obtain the movie, one of Trevor’s friends decide to get more movies from a P2P program he installed a while back. After firing the application up, his computer freezes. Not knowing what happened, Trevor’s friend does a simple force reboot and after the restart, everything seems fine. In the background processes, however, the P2P program automatically shared his whole media folder to the rest of the P2P community without telling the user.

Involves the use of the following applications: <P2P Application>

• Questions raised from this scenario:
  • If a P2P program automatically shares all the media on a user's computer and the user is accused of copyright infringement, who should take the blame? The P2P company or the end user?
  • The tech companies hired by the media industries to track down internet pirates is known for only targeting uploaders, rarely downloaders. Is this technique working?

• Trevor's family live in a fairly large condominium complex. Although all the computer's in Trevor's house are connected via an encrypted wireless local area connection, Trevor's laptop has the ability to detect and connect to several other neighbor's wireless routers from the comforts of his bedroom. Since his laptop's wireless card is set connect to the closest router, Trevor often surfs the net & downloads copyrighted media using his neighbor's connection.

Involves the use of the following applications: <Wireless Configuration Utility>

• Questions raised from this scenario:
  • A large majority of home wireless routers do not ship with WEP and WPA security turned on, causing many personal networks to be exposed to outside threats. If an outsider uses your wireless connection to facilitate illegal file sharing, what rights do you have as the innocently accused?

Introduction to Piracy

In the simplest terms, piracy is obtaining materials without the proper rights of legal ownership. In a broader sense, piracy can represent a whole range of intellectual and physical robbery. Like what the traditional usage of this term suggests, the theft committed by ruthless sea barbarians in the early 1700s is analogous to the present day methods to wrongfully acquire or distribute copyrighted material. Yes, the recent surge in pirated Pirates of the Caribbean films is, least to say, ironic.

The main driving force behind the argument against piracy centers on the degree of copyright infringement. The creator of a new piece of work has exclusive rights or ownership over all individual products of labor. Exclusive rights include but are not limited to distribution, reproduction, the ability to perform and make derivatives of the original. Under United States and most foreign law, copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of any works or materials secured by copyright. Piracy impinges on the copyright owner’s exclusive rights without a license to do so and thus is considered a form of copyright infringement.

Why are copyrights necessary? Copyrights and the consequences of copyright infringement not only help protect intellectual property and ownership but also benefit society as a whole. By prohibiting duplication new products and ideas for a designated period of time after creation, these laws prevent third party profiteers from stealing intellectual property and making a living from hard work of others. Copyrights provide sufficient incentives for individuals to embark on revolutionary research, make their discoveries, and present their own creations known to the world without having to worry about ownership issues. These laws promote society's scientific and intellectual progress while piracy works as the counterforce.

Currently, the piracy problem spans many corporate sectors. The MPAA, RIAA, ESA, and SIAA representing the movie, music, gaming, and software industries respectively have all taken drastic measures to cope with the repercussions from illegal sharing of their clients’ copyrighted works. Besides publishing annual damage reports that rave about the millions upon billions of lost profit and issuing pre-litigation notices to caught violators, industries have began collaborating with educational companies to bring piracy awareness into schools.

Although some critics of these so-called “profit seeking” businesses frown upon the use of educational programs designed by paid business partners, the piracy-ridden industries are targeting the right demographics. As studies conducted by third party researchers show, up and coming generations of Digital Natives are more prone than any other age group to experiment with and actually commit piracy. In a 2006 study, L.E.K. consulting group found the typical internet pirate is a male between the ages of 16 and 24. They reported, “44 percent of MPA company losses in the U.S. are attributable to college students.” [1] Growing up in an environment immersed with different technological facets, Digital Natives confront the copyright issue much earlier in childhood. More and more of our youth are becoming desensitized about piracy and intellectual property rights like how we are becoming desensitized with violence on television. In a recent PEW study, researchers found that around half of the young students interviewed were not concerned with downloading and sharing of copyrighted content for gratis. Teens who download music online agree, “it’s unrealistic to expect people to self-regulate and avoid free downloading and file-sharing altogether.” [2]

Overview

Technological advancements in years saddling the new millennium brought sweeping changes to the way data is transferred across the world. The rapid increase in the availability and acceptance of broadband internet connections has allowed people from the far reaches of the globe to download large multimedia files at much faster speeds than ever before. Sharing files between computers became easier for the general population to understand. The once dominant UseNets and IRC channels slowly gave way to user-friendly Graphical User Interface (GUI) Peer to Peer (P2P) programs where anyone can make a simple search to produce desirable results. Emerging technologies such as Wikis and BitTorrent coupled with old tools like email and instant messaging provided additional techniques where information can be transferred from one client to the next. Finally, the adoption of standardized media formats improved the sharing experience as a whole. All of these changes, old and new, provided the foundations for the present day's pervasive illegal distribution of copyrighted material.

Classifications

Since the piracy problem is pertinent across many fields, the definition and classification of this term has become extremely controversial over the years. While members of the justice system used piracy and theft almost interchangeably, people on the other side of the aisle view this practice as an grand exaggeration of reality. To them, it is unfair to compare downloading a song with real life thievery, or in this case, the carnage of 17th century sea "pirates." Even the organizations representing the large media and software industries do not have standard, unified definition for what they are fighting. MPAA defines piracy as "a serious federal offense." As for the different kinds of piracy, MPAA only mentions "internet piracy of movies, DVD copying, illegal sales and theatrical camcording." To the ISAA, "making additional copies, or loading the software onto more than one machine, may violate copyright law and be considered piracy." RIAA defines piracy as "the illegal duplication and distribution of sound recordings." Each organization is representing its respective industry, only showing pertinent consumers mere pieces of the puzzle. A definitive, yet agreeable definition for piracy and an universal way to classify the many faces of this issue is needed.

Piracy can be classified into two categories - digital and physical. Digital piracy is the illegal duplication and distribution of copyrighted content via electronic means. While the usage of online (Peer to peer) P2P networks is the most pervasive outlet of digital piracy, hosting copyrighted files such as MP3s, movies, and software on web servers, uploading copyrighted media on video sharing sites, and even simpler ways of distribution such as via email or instant messaging are also considered illegal digital piracy. Similar to digital piracy, physical piracy is involves the illegal duplication and distribution of works, but in physical form. Digital media can be illegally burned onto mediums such as CDs, DVDs and sold for a fraction of the retail price. Books, newspapers, magazines, course packs, journals, research and reports can also be duplicated in physical form and distributed. In fact, the MPAA reports, for 2005 "62 percent of the $6.1 billion loss result from piracy of hard goods such as DVDs, 38 percent from internet piracy." Physical piracy of media and other forms of content are much more pervasive on a global scale. This method of copyright infringement can be further classified into individual license, corporate to end-user, reseller and distributor violations.

Intentionality

• Totally aware
  • Direct facilitator of digital or phsyical piracy
  • Usually includes monetary gains
• Somewhat aware
  • Consumers of pirated material
  • Indirect facilitators of digital piracy
• Unaware
  • Individuals with computers indirectly contributing copyrighted media

Current Methodologies

Digital

• Over the internet by means of
  • Direct connection (AIM, YouSendIt, MyTunes)
  • P2P networks (Kazaa, eMule, Napster)
  • Torrent networks
    • Torrent indexers (ThePirateBay, MiniNova)
    • Torrent clients (uTorrent, Azureus)
  • FTP and web servers
  • Low-quality mediums
    • Media aggregators (Tv-Links.co.uk, PeekVid)
    • Media sharing sites (YouTube, Veoh)
• Violation of fair use
  • Media sharing sites

Before the popularization of digital formats and the increased accessibility of the internet, illegal distribution of physical copyrighted material was the prevalent form of piracy.

Physical

• Individual license violation (no profit margin, software & media)
  • Installing software on multiple computers, overusing licenses
  • Exploiting upgrade options
  • Using academic or other non-retail software for commercial purposes
  • Copying licensed software or locked media
  • Distributing / sharing copied content with immediate relations
• Corporate to end-user (improves profit margin, mainly software)
  • Installing software on multiple computers, overusing licenses
  • Client-server overuse
  • Hard disk loading
• Reseller and distributor (pure profit, software & media)
  • Selling copied or counterfeit software for a reduced price
  • Street vendors & illegal stores
  • Online distribution of software via mail (direct resell, auctions)
  • Unlicensed movie theaters & rental facilities

Over a period of 18 months, LEK surveyed 20,600 movie consumers from 22 countries and found "62 percent of the $6.1 billion loss result from piracy of hard goods such as DVDs, 38 percent from internet piracy." [3]

By understanding methodologies and motivations behind these commonly used utilities, we can have a better understanding of piracy in Digital Native culture.

Piracy Among Digital Natives

Reasons for Piracy

• Saving time & money
  • Digital natives are used to having immediate access to digital media. They aren't familiar with having to go to a record store and buy the latest CD or even having to record on a VCR a favorite show -- they can get the materials almost as quickly as they come out.
• Supply & demand + youth popularity
• Method of self expression
• Curiosity & standing trends
• Weak repercussions

Piracy & Culture

Newly developed technologies of the last decade are giving users unprecedented freedom and control over media. Since embracing novel technologies and keeping current with the latest trends are crucial to the cultural standard of Digital Natives, such innovations provided the foundations for today's piracy.

• Software innovations
  • Fast, efficient transfer protocols
  • User friendly file sharing applications
  • Online advertisement system
  • Software communications boom
• Hardware innovations
  • The personal computer
  • MP3 players
  • Portable multimedia players
  • Storage medium technologies
  • "Hardware synergy"

At heart, below the layers of accessories and fancy gadgets, the youth generation of day are not so different than the generations of the past. The rebel nature of teens is still pervasive though present generations of kids. Such teenage mentality is drives counter-mainstream adult ideologies which incites piracy.

Repercussions

For those who download through peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, the MPAA and RIAA have brought up the many potential risks one faces when accessing these servers. In the parental resources section of the MPAA website, the organization warns about four dangers of P2P programs: “Subject users to pornography, open personal files on your home computer to strangers online, increase the risk of a computer virus, lure kids into illegally downloading movies and music, which can lead to jail time and fines” [4].

The first three concerns the MPAA notes are typical risks users face when acquiring content through such systems. Many online hackers exploit the P2P search system for monetary gains. By analyzing the trends of high demand movies or music, these profiteers simply manipulate the file names of the viruses and malware they want to spread to match the names of popular song artists and movie titles. Average users who are unaware of these tactics often times are gullible enough to execute these masked programs without realizing the file’s identity. Even the ever-popular P2P software Limewire admits to the existence of viruses and other harmful material on their networks. In its online FAQ, the programmers warn Limewire’s users, “if you attempt to download a virus-infected file using LimeWire, you will be vulnerable to any viruses contained in that file” [5].

In addition to harmful materials one can download, many of these free P2P programs are packaged with third party spyware programs that will slowly but surely retard the speed and reliability of a computer. Like the infamous AOL installation back in the day, a handful of these shareware clients come bundled with various harmful third party applications. By means of a deceptive installation wizard or simply packing other software with the executable, oblivious individuals get much more than what they originally wanted.

Finally, users face the possibility of legal consequences due to copyright infringement. Since most P2P search requests will pull up media across the whole copyright spectrum, the MPAA does not want children get the impression certain copyrighted content can be acquired without charge for the legal consequences does not discriminate by age. From a warning to a petty fine of $200 to $150,000 and 5 years in jail, the potential cost of piracy is very real [6].

Solutions

Eliminating piracy in the foreseeable future is a next to impossible task. There will always be people seeking ways to circumvent laws, for rebelling against society's standards somehow makes them feel special. There is hope, however. Even though wiping out piracy is not feasible, reducing this theft of digital material can be attained.

Educate the Young

• Getting the message across to the new generations of Digital Natives

It is human nature to want to fit in with the rest of the populace. For example, if the majority of Trevor’s peers does not condone or commit piracy, it is highly unlikely Trevor will spend Friday nights at home downloading the latest blockbuster for he will be at the movie theatre watching the film with his friends. Thus, it should be the media industries’ goal to embed piracy’s immoral ideologies as early as possible in the heads of rising Digital Natives.

Although the representatives of the entertainment industry are currently pushing massive anti-piracy educational campaigns onto the public sphere, their efforts are not enough. The facts about piracy need to be incorporated into public school curriculums across the country. High school government classes should stress the consequences of copyright infringement. Parents should take part in addressing the dangers of piracy before they teach their children how to use computers. With a solid piracy awareness educational program in place, the next generations of internet users will be ready to make rational decisions about electronic theft.

• Programs in place for kids in secondary schools
  • US Patent and Trademark Office
  • RIAA & iSafe
  • MPAA & Copyright Kids
  • ESA & Join The C Team
• Programs in place for college students
  • Campus Downloading
• Information sites
  • Microsoft
• Opposing viewpoints
  • RIAA partnership with iSafe, a dangerous step
  • Blog post: Kids on Piracy

Improve Business Strategies

Steps the software, entertainment, and gaming industries can take to adapt to the stubborn mindsets of digital natives.

• Adapting to the new digital environment
  • Embrace the inevitable online music movement
    • BitTorrent and MPAA Join Forces [7]
  • Develop better technologies to aid sales

• Providing legal, more attractive alternatives
  • Reduce material costs of current physical albums
  • Renew incentives to collect

The main incentive to obtain pirated files instead of purchasing them from a legitimate seller is because of the undesirable high prices of genuine media. In a study conducted by the RIAA, the consumer prices of producing a CD nearly rose 60% between the years of 1983 and 1996. Fortunately, the price of blank CDs fell 40% during this period, otherwise “average retail price of a CD in 1996 would have been $33.86 instead of $12.75” [8]. The RIAA notes because “the amount of music provided on a typical CD has increased substantially, along with higher quality in terms of fidelity, durability, ease of use, and range of choices,” not to mention today’s insanely over the top marketing strategies, the prices of production has been consistently on the rise.

This price trend also is occurring in the DVD sales industry. With the DVD player penetration rate in American households up from 23.6% in 2001 to 76.2% in 2005, DVDs are definitely on demand [9]. The average price of a DVD title, however, rose from $20.52 to $21.35 from 2001 to 2005 while the price of blank DVDs were falling lower and lower [10]. Money conscientious consumers who are always hunting for deals turn to free P2P services or cheaper pirated versions of media because the real stuff is simply too expensive.

Adjust Policies & Enforcement Techniques

• Creating new policies that clarifies digital fair use
• Setting the examples (for the prosecution)
  • Sue illiterate sympathizers and root release groups
    • Suing Your Customers: A Winning Business Strategy? [11]
  • Be aware of social backlash
  • Keep an open mind & avoid being greedy
    • Piracy stats don't add up [12]

Reflections

Numbers Tell the Story

• Discuss the latest trends among Digital Natives relating to how they perceive piracy
  • Gender differences
  • Social-economic differences
  • Family influences
  • Group mentality phenomenon

Other Side of the Debate

• Is piracy really causing problems for the programming/entertainment industries?
  • Russian teacher fined for MS piracy [13]
  • Profits from Piracy: Microsoft in China [14]

Relevant Research

PiracyEdu Homepage

SIIA Anti-Piracy: What is Piracy?

BSA Types of Piracy

A brief intro to copyright

10 Big Myths about copyright explained

Digital copyright court cases

Youth & Piracy

Majority of Youth Understand “Copyright,” But Many Continue To Download Illegally, 2004

Parents pick up piracy from kids

Youth & Technology

US youths use internet to create, 2005

PDF: Teen Content Creators and Consumers, 2005 [15]

Youth value technology: poll

Anti-Piracy

(Gaming Industry) ESA: Intellectual Property

(Movie Industry) MPAA: Anti-Piracy

(Music Industry) RIAA: Anti-Piracy

(Software & Other Content) SIAA: Anti-Piracy

Pro-Piracy

Russian teacher fined for MS piracy, 2007

Profits from Piracy: Microsoft in China

Possible Solutions

Suing Your Customers: A Winning Business Strategy?, 2003

Hong Kong enlists youth to fight piracy

Legal News

Viacom the Latest Company to Misunderstand the Internet, Jason Kolb, 2007

YouTube-Viacom Page on TopTenSources, Various Editors, 2007

Viacom Terrorizes YouTube, Cory Doctorow at Boing Boing, 2007

LA Times: Is Copying a Crime? Well…, 2006

Which Videos Are Protected? Lawmakers Get a Lesson, 2007

MPAA copyright victory is 'website killer', 2005

BitTorrent and MPAA Join Forces

Piracy stats don't add up, 2006

Indiana man jailed for selling counterfeit software on eBay

Movie Swappers Put on Notice, 2004

Poughkeepsie Online: Music Swappers Sued, 2003

Music Theft on 19 Campuses Targeted in Wave of RIAA Pre-Lawsuit Letters

In Court's View, MP3 Player is Just a 'Space Shifter', 1999

Legal Notes

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute - US Code: Title 17, Copyrights

Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute - Constitution: LII

NET: The No Electronic Theft Act

DMCA: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act