The Growing Problem Of Digital Piracy On The Internet Thesis

The Growing Problem Of Digital Piracy On The Internet Thesis The Growing Problem Of Digital Piracy On The Internet â€" Thesis Example > Figure 1: ………. ..…………………………………………………………………………… 63AbstractWith the rapid growth of internet usage and the increased bandwidth and speed of connection, the frequency and seriousness of digital piracy has mushroomed (Ellacoya, 2007). It is very common today for users to share copyrighted materials among themselves without proper license or permissions. This peer-to-peer (p2p) sharing is made even easier because of the growth of virtual communities. This project will examine p2p networks that appear to be using the internet illegally (digital piracy) and will examine the range of responses developed by companies to combat this activity (Ellacoya, 2007). This topic is of intense interest to those who produce and provide music, movies, software and games. The central question that will drive this study: “How can the frequency of digital piracy activity be contained or reduced? ” The research approach will be to administ er a confidential questionnaire to specific p2p users between the ages of 15-28, to interview (face-to-face) users of p2p programs and to solicit expert opinion from professionals. The expected outcome of this research will be a better understanding of the motivations that digital pirates exhibit for their behavior. Based on these findings, a set of recommended protections for digital rights will be recommended. 1.1 IntroductionDigital piracy in the earlier definition refers to the illegal copying of any digital software, digital documents, goods, digital audio (including video and music), for any other reason except to backup without any prospected permission from the owner and compensation to the immediate copyright holder. In specific, digital piracy as a term had been declared illegal since the Copyright Act of 1976 in the United States an act that spread globally to other parts of the world. It was an act amended in the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act earlier before its incepti ons. Digital piracy in the earlier definition refers to the illegal copying of any digital software, digital documents, goods, digital audio (including video and music), for any other reason except to backup without any prospected permission from the owner and compensation to the immediate copyright holder. In specific, digital piracy as a term had been declared illegal since the Copyright Act of 1976 in the United States an act that spread globally to other parts of the world. It was an act in the amendment of  the No Theft (NET) Act earlier before its inceptions (Bachman, Paternoster, Ward, 1992; Nagin Paternoster, 1993; Hickman Piquero, 2000; Tibbetts Myers, 1999; Piquero Tibbetts, 1996; Tibbetts, 1997). These acts made the distribution and copying of digital content over the Internet and other places, a felony offense. The laws produced few court cases for pirating music, software, and movies directly from the Internet. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) d eveloped treaties in assisting in the copyrights protection (Ellacoya, 2007). Specifically, WIPO developed three treaties precluding the unlawful taking of any copyrighted material: The Performers and Producers of Phonograms Treaty, The Copyright Treaty, and The Databases Treaty. Regardless of the establishment of these treaties, Rao (2003) argued that the rates of piracy international increased in the 2000 and 2001 and has been increasing by the day. Therefore, piracy has developed as a worldwide behavior in the recent times. Because of the Internet attributes, piracy took place mostly in almost complete deceit that made the tracking of piracy rates nearly impossible. An industry groups in their research results estimated software piracy as accounting for nearly 11 billion dollars in term of lost revenue and was a substantial contributor to job losses and reducing the government’s revenues (Business Software Alliance, 2003).