Crime

Piracy

Piracy today has a very different meaning than it did during the days when sailors plundered other ships for their treasure, but the basic concept is still the same. It involves the taking of goods that belong to another without permission or any form of compensation. A more modern definition of piracy stipulates that it is the illegal reproduction of any form of media.

Television

It is now common for most TV shows to be recorded and uploaded to the Internet within hours or even minutes of the original airing. The problem has become so widespread that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is working on measures to stop the ability of these shows to be posted online. This would involve a bit of coding to be inserted into programs that are shown digitally which would allow for copies of the show to be burned to DVD, but would not allow those copies to be uploaded to the Internet.

Movies

Films can be pirated through the duplicating of DVD Screener copies that are created for authorized viewers prior to awards shows such as the Oscars. Pirated films can also result when a movie goer brings a camcorder into a theater or when a copy of a film being produced in the project booth at a cinema is leaked. The bootleg movies are uploaded and shown online, allowing viewers to watch the entire film from their computers.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has expressed concerns about not only the methods of bootlegging, but also of the ability to copy and share a movie once it is shown on television. Representatives of the MPAA have suggested that if this problem is not solved, they may no longer allow for films to be sold to television networks other than pay channels.

Music

Songs and entire cds are very frequently copied on CDRs to be shared or posted online where others may download the songs as MP3s for no charge. Some estimates suggest that several billion songs are downloaded illegally on an annual basis.

In response, several large music labels are developing anti-piracy software for their cds. This technology involves techniques such as encoding that will cause cds to be unplayable in any computer, or only in one single computer; cd burners to not operate; or discs to only work properly when played on a standard cd player.

Software

Computer software is very often copied, reused and passed along to others who will not pay for the program they are receiving. Some of the more common methods include loading the same software program onto multiple computers; a company uploading a software application to their network so that every employee has access; uploading software programs to the internet; and burning copies of software packages to CD-Rs to make it available to others at no charge.

The problem of software piracy became so severe that repeat offenders began to receive harsh punishments, including jail time. One of the biggest cases involved the founder of a website that sold pirated software. He received six years in prison, community service hours and a fine of four million dollars in restitution money.