A topic that has been a forefront of media and communication is 'piracy', a robbery
not committed at sea- music, movie and TV pirates are considered thieves, plain and simple. It happens when you download movies for free, burn free downloaded CD's from the Internet and even when you jump online to watch that missed episode of your favourite show. What happens when people download or stream free online when they can't afford to go to the movies, or even when they live in countries where everyday shows like 'The Simpsons' are regulated and banned by governing bodies? They are still considered thieves!
Music piracy has been a major hotplate in media since the 1990's, with movie piracy hot on its heel. However, in today’s era, technology has been advancing society and businesses- but not without a price. Speedy Internet connections, high capacity storage availability, and underground peer-to-peer networks on the Internet have opened the gates of piracy wide open (Al-Rafee and Cronan, 2007). The MPA (2005) describes piracy as the unauthorised downloading, taking, copying or use of copyrighted materials without permission and recognised the act as a growing international phenomenon with serious consequences. The most costly and damaging of all is the experience dubbed 'Software Piracy 2.0', a type of digital piracy defined as
'the illegal copying/downloading of copyrighted software and media files' (Cronan and Al-Rafee, 2007: 2).
Since the introduction of the 'original' peer-to-peer media distributor
Napster in 1999, the music industry has taken the hardest hit in pirated digital downloading. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), there was a 31% decline in music sales from 1999 to 2002, which was primarily a result of piracy (Feuilherade in Al-Rafee and Cronan, 2007). Today file-sharing programs have paved the way for piracy by torrent-based websites such as
Limewire, and
Mininova. Due to the growth of Internet and file-sharing a new type of pressure has been placed on the music industry with most media industries opening digital music stores such as iTunes. However, this 'fluid' phenomena has now taken a competitive peak through a battle of
digital rights management and price wars over which online music store will have the best prices. Still, it has to be considered that some digital stores pump their prices higher, therefore pushing consumers to download illegally.
In an attempt to shut-down piracy, initiatives such as '
The Industry Trust' have been established to try and tackle copyright breaches, and protect intellectual property. Furthermore, bands such as
Radiohead and
Nine Inch Nails are releasing their albums
free on their websites in an attempt to make piracy useless. Following in similar footsteps,
Coldplay has released a few free 'preview' songs from their new album 'Viva La Vida' for a week but insists they will not do a 'Radiohead'. All in all, in this avalanche of peer-to-peer file sharing and free downloads where music insiders leak albums, and the ever rising participatory culture and growth of Web 2.0 it is evident that digital piracy is here to stay.
It is in my opinion that piracy itself was unavoidable and the growth of digital piracy was to be expected. Firstly, cost-efficient and timely attributes have made digital piracy attractive options to everyone, not just those with minimum access to music. Furthermore, the music industry's shift to digital and their 'modern' distribution patterns will provide an ongoing piracy legacy.
References:Al-Rafee, S. and Cronan, T. (2007) 'Factors that Influence the Intention to Pirate Software and Media'.
Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 78, pp 527-545: Springer.
Motion Picture Association of America (MPA). (2005)
https://mpaa.org/piracy.asp (Accessed May 15, 2008).
