Piracy

1. What is/are the problem/problems here? Is there an underlying fundamental problem?

Piracy or illegal file sharing is the main problem in the case study. Copying and downloading movie or music files in an online platform is a common problem due to the development of the internet and downloading websites, such as Frostwire and Bittorrent. Various views regarding the practice create the prevalence of this issue. Notably, people fail to consider the serious ramifications of the practice and continue to download movies and music, oblivious of the negative effects on the industry and those who invest their time and resources to create the content. Piracy involves infringement of copyright laws, a practice with a huge impact on creative industries across the world (Danaher, Smith, & Telang, 2014). The law related to intellectual property rights is enacted to protect original creators and to ensure that they have the opportunity to earn from their creativity. It is worth noting that the industry has experienced weakening of intellectual property rights based on the ease with which people can illegally download music and movies (Danaher, Smith, & Telang, 2014). Therefore, a controversy regarding the effectiveness of the national and international law in protecting creators of movies, music, and other content that people download illegally is evident.

2. Who are the major stakeholders and what are their perspectives?

Various individuals and groups are affected by the illegal copying and sharing of movies and music online. The most affected individuals are the creators of the movies, music, and online content that people download illegally. The individuals invest their resources, including time to produce music and movies, and hence, lose a lot through pirating. For example, the rise of the Napster led to the global decline in the sales and licensing of movies and music. The event led to the decline from almost $27 billion (U.S. Dollars) in 2000 to $15 billion in 2010 (Danaher, Smith, Telang, & Chen 2014). Another important stakeholder group is the policymakers who design laws that protect content developers. The government creates laws and policies to protect creators of copyright content from piracy. They have designed anti-piracy law relating to copyright protected materials (Liang, 2014). Besides the direct producer of information resources and policy-makers, other stakeholders include producers and directors of music and movies. Those people play an important role in the industry and make a living out of their work; thus, their revenue stream is affected negatively by piracy. Hence, the stakeholders are affected by the illegal copying and downloading of movies and music.

3. What are the major ethical, legal, and security aspects associated with the problem.

Copying and downloading of music and movies online is a violation of the law and an unethical issue. Although people who commit piracy do not view it as stealing, it is still a violation of the law. It is a form of theft just as it is when a person walks into a store and steals a CD or DVD. After all, laws are already in place to protect the creators of information resources from violators who steal their intellectual property. Liang (2014) elucidates that anti-piracy laws should protect individuals and ensure that they benefit from their efforts. However, the effectiveness of such a law is questionable since the problem continues to persist.

Piracy is also an ethical issue because downloading movies and music violate moral principles. Creators of information resources desire to earn from their work (Lawson, 2017). However, their income is affected when their work is copied and downloaded illegally. It is unethical for people to steal content and enjoy other individuals’ work without compensating. Unethical and illegal challenges create security concerns in the online environment. Copyrighted work faces a security risk when it is available online because of the ease with which unauthorized people can access information.

4. What are (1) the global and (2) the local impacts of potential solutions on individuals, organizations and society?

Piracy has considerable effects on individuals, organizations, and society because of the reduction in the revenue generated from movies and music. Therefore, an effective solution will have a huge impact on the three entities since it will address the associated legal, ethical, and security challenges. Notably, the impact of an effective solution can be understood by revisiting the performance of the music industry in the 1990s. During this decade, the music industry recorded steady growth in global sales, with sales amounting to over USD 25 billion in 1999. However, the development and popularization of the file-sharing site, such as Napster led to a 30% decline in the sales revenue between 1999 and 2009 (Liang, 2014). Hence, an urgent intervention to solve the issues related to piracy will improve the revenue for individuals and organizations within the industry. Such an initiative will enhance the livelihood of people who depend on the revenue in the sector. In addition, addressing the problem that affects the sales revenue in the movie and music industry will act as an incentive for creators to continue generating information that supports social welfare (Danaher, Smith, Telang, & Chen, 2014). Therefore, an effective solution will have both economic and social benefits.

5. What recommendations would you propose that will lead to potential solutions?

Ineffective enforcement systems worsen the problem of piracy in the country and internationally. Governments across the world have designed legal mechanisms to fight piracy and illegal copying and downloading of music and movies (Liang, 2014). However, they have remained ineffective in solving the issue and protecting creators of artistic content from loss of revenue due to piracy. Therefore, one of the solutions to the issue is to create effective enforcement mechanisms, nationally and globally, to fight the problem. Piracy is a global challenge since the internet is a universal information-sharing tool. Therefore, localized efforts will remain ineffective in preventing the violation of intellectual property rights. Therefore, governments across the world should collaborate and design a universal legal framework for the protection of intellectual property and copyrighted materials. The universal framework should include the development of global anti-piracy laws and enforcement mechanisms to solve the problem effectively. Besides, governments should invest more resources towards enforcement of the law at a global perspective. Therefore, research based on the nature of the policy that will be effective in dealing with the global crisis of piracy that denies individuals, organizations, and nations their revenue from genuine sales of movies and music should be initiated.

References

Adermon, A., & Liang, C. Y. (2014). Piracy and music sales: The effects of an anti-piracy law. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 105, 90-106.

Danaher, B., Smith, M. D., & Telang, R. (2014). Piracy and copyright enforcement mechanisms. Innovation Policy and the Economy, 14(1), 25-61.

Danaher, B., Smith, M. D., Telang, R., & Chen, S. (2014). The effect of graduated response anti‐piracy laws on music sales: evidence from an event study in France. The Journal of Industrial Economics, 62(3), 541-553.

Lawson, S. (2017). Access, ethics and piracy. Insights the UKSG journal, 30(1), 25-30.

Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:

Turnitin Report

Formatting

Title Page

Citation

Outline

Place an Order