Piracy | DIGITAL PIRACY: Reasons and Repercussions |Why No to Piracy? | Result of doing piracy | Punishment of Piracy |

DIGITAL PIRACY: Reasons and Repercussions

In the olden days, seas were a dangerous place to be at due to the presence of vicious pirates who used to plunder great ships and steal all precious and essential items found aboard. In the modern days, the internet has become a similar sea where the act of piracy takes place on a large scale which includes the theft of intellectual property instead of physical ones. Online piracy is the crime involving the access to and distribution of copyrighted content digitally without the creator's consent.

In the modern, technologically dependent times, more and more people are turning towards utilizing and sharing forward pirated content, be it in form of movies, songs, e-books, games etc., considering it as a cheaper and more convenient method of accessing latest, premium or otherwise expensive digital material. Being constantly portrayed as a victimless crime, digital piracy has greater negative effects on our lives than we choose to consider.

The impact of piracy on businesses can be substantial, both on the intellectual property owner who loses income and on the distributors and users of pirated materials. Each year several companies and businesses lose a large amount of their deserving income through the hands of carelessly unaware or money minded people engaged in online piracy. For example, Illegal copying and streaming of movies and television shows also leads to substantial losses, estimated to climb to $52 billion a year by 2022 worldwide.

That's why when one downloads illegal content or shares copyrighted material with others, one does not see one's victims, but digital piracy steals the income from millions of hardworking people.

There are very clear laws specifying the powers of each consumer over the purchased material. Purchasing content means you are allowed to listen, play, read, or use that content yourself. It does not give you the right to copy it, share it, trade it, let others download it or make money off of it for yourself, like buying a game and then charging people to use it without a proper permission from its creator.

On a worldwide scale, the repercussions of being found pirating copyrighted material can lead upto 10 years in jail as well as a hefty fine.

Therefore, by being aware and also making other people aware, we can help millions of faceless, anonymous victims receive their well-deserved incomes as well as become a better citizen, helping our nation grow and flourish.