Internet Piracy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Internet Piracy - Essay Example The Internet is a vast repository of music, movies, games and software. As the access to the Internet increases, the rate of piracy also increases. People with access to the Internet can download computer software, music or movies and other copyrighted material in digitalized form; and copy, replicate and sell it on the black market. All these activities constitute physical forms of piracy. Nevertheless, in developed nations, although people have widespread access to the Internet, the piracy rate is on the decline (Assenova). There is a direct relationship between such physical piracy and the Internet. Piracy has affected the international music industry. The proliferation of the Internet has made file – sharing and unauthorized downloading of music, very simple. Software pirates invented new technologies and tools to share music over the Internet. For instance, Napster introduced peer – to – peer technology that posed a serious threat to the music industry. It d ecreased the sale of legitimate music works, which caused the music industry to sustain severe financial losses (Mcclintock). Piracy did not stop at this and extended its depredations to the movie industry. The latter implemented several programs to protect itself from piracy, and the major movie companies launched joint campaigns against movie piracy, and made a number of efforts to enhance public awareness about piracy. These companies conducted antipiracy campaigns in university campuses and colleges across the US (Mcclintock).