Introduction

There are a great number of arguments regarding people who believe Piracy should be legalized, and those who think it should remain illegal and further use to be prevented.  The arguments that both sides present will be discussed in order to show whether Piracy is as much of an issue as it is made out to be.

The first argument will consider the effects of Piracy on the industry; that being the effect on sales, and what is being done to stop it. The second argument will involve why Piracy can be beneficial if it is under a controlled environment.  The final argument will consider what will be done in the future so that both people for and against it can both benefit.

Negative

“Piracy is claimed to be a major problem for the software industry.” (Kathleen & Richard, 1991.) This could be considered true, as it is a major cause in the dramatic decrease in sales for products, and not only in the software industry. This is because demand for the product decreases if the software is being taken without permission and distributed through other means for free.  Moreover, it was stated that the amount lost was “estimated at as much as $9 to $17 billion” which is what usually leads to company bankruptcy. This could result in the prevention of further products made from the industry, which is why most people are against it. Not only is it considered immoral and unjust, but it also prevents the consumption of products for those who do purchase it. As stated previously, this also applies to other media sources such as music and film industries. Artists continue to lose income through the distribution of their songs, where directors lose revenue with decreases in ticket sales, all through Torrent websites.

It is because of the loss of sales that industries have started reinforcing the safety of their content through the law.  The government have attempted to pass bills such as the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) that were “intended to strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft.” (Stephanie, 2012) However, these bills were not able to pass through the government and were scrapped. Despite this, a website which provided access to copyright material (known as Mega Upload) was taken down by government officials. As proven, extreme measures are being taken in order to prevent further pirating of material. Other methods of preventing piracy include fines and prison time. This is shown through New Zealand where those accused can have “penalties of up to NZ$15,000 ($12,000) to be paid to the copyright owner and if this is ineffective offenders can have their Internet account suspended for up to six months.” (Drew, 2011). Therefore, drastic action is being taken to not just attempt to stop piracy, but to at least restrict and provide possible prevention of further pirating activity.

Positive

Even though piracy is a direct cause of the loss of sales and provides free access to content, it does make such material accessible. This is because not every piece of software or music can be presented; it is more likely that the more popular material, such as an album by Beyonce would dramatically outsell another artist who would be attempting to debut. With piracy, this allows the unknown to be discovered by supplying the audience with a large variety of software and material which would not normally be advertised. This can also apply to films where more popular movies such as The Avengers would get much more attention than foreign productions. However, with more popular content, this would imply that those against piracy would be more likely to be monitoring films and artists who have the potential to gain a large sum of money.

It could also be argued that piracy can provide people with a chance to ‘trial’ a product before considering whether to purchase it. This is because people prefer to understand what they are purchasing before buying it to their dissatisfaction. It allows an album or music to be tested to see whether it is up to standard, or whether computer software is simple enough to understand and accomplishes what the person wants it to accomplish. What it also allows is the revival of content which is no longer available for purchase. Those who have access to older music or films will be able to share it online with those who also wish to own it. Therefore, it is more convenient for people who wish to gain access to content no longer available which makes piracy all the more resourceful

Conclusion

To conclude, Piracy has both negative and positive arguments surrounding it. Despite providing accessibility and a chance for the audience to trial products without costing them excessive amounts of money, it does not help the manufacturers in creating more material to sell. This could lead to suggest that more products should consider creating freeware or trials for people to have access, and allow them to decide whether to purchase or not. Piracy is an interesting concept, but it would be better used in a controlled online environment where material is not stolen, sales are not lost but people can still access it.  Regarding whether there will ever be an end to piracy, it is most unlikely. There will always be alternative ways to access copyright content, therefore piracy will never die, it will only be hindered.

References

Conner, K.R., Rumelt, R.P. (1991). Software Piracy: An analysis of Protection Strategies (Vol 37). Management Science, INFORMS. pp. 125-139.

Gopal, R.D., Sanders, G.L. (1997). Preventive and Deterrent Controls for Software Piracy (Vol 13). Journal of Management Information Systems, M.E. Sharpe Inc. pp. 29-47. Retrieved from http://www.mendeley.com

Solomon, S. L., & OʼBrian, J. L. (1990). The Effect of Demographic Factors on Attitudes Toward Software Piracy. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 30(3), 40-46.

Sandoval, G (2009, April 19). Has online piracy reached a tipping point?. Internet and Media. Retrieved from http://www.news.cnet.com 

Filloux, F (2012, January 23). Piracy is part of the digital ecosystem. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk

Wilson, D (2011, April 14). New Zealand passes three strike rule. News. Retrieved from http://www.zeropaid.com