What is piracy?

Piracy is the act of downloading, installing, copying, or distributing licensed digital content without buying or obtaining a license first. Many people pirate content by downloading files from cyberlockers, which are online sites that host numerous movies and songs.

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Who commits piracy?

Lots and lots of people. It's estimated that about 50% of the US has pirated content before, which rises to 70 percent when looking at exclusively young people.

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Don't they know it's stealing?

While it's true that piracy is against the law, the fact is that it's primarily an economic practice. If the price of a certain movie or song is set too high, more and more people will resort to illegal methods to obtain it. If these people were unable to pirate it, they wouldn't buy the media either, since it would cost too much.

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What is the DMCA?

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, was passed by the US Congress in 1998 to try and curb rampant piracy. It declares it illegal to circumvent copy protection or copy licensed software or works, and it established the concept of "safe harbor," where websites hosting content are not to be held responsible for their users' piracy. It also outlines takedown procedures, where the owner of a copyright can file a request to have infringing material removed from an offending site.

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Was the DMCA effective?

The DMCA failed to effectively reduce rates of piracy. In fact, many of its procedures and court rulings make it harder to protect digital content from pirates. It also imposed restrictions that severely limited free speech on the Internet.

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To view three different perspectives on the DMCA and piracy, click the button below.