The History of Piracy
Name 1 of the software that contributed to piracy blowing up in the 2010's
- Napster (Music Sharing)
- BitTorrent (File Sharing)
Name 3 examples of creators who aren't compensated by piracy
- Artists
- Programmers
- Writers
- Animators
- Musicians
- Developers
Who do law enforcement target instead of enforcing the DMCA on regular downloaders?
They target the individual piracy site hosts that are the ones actually distributing copyrighted content.
What are 3 pieces of media that can be pirated?
- Films
- Music
- Software
- Games
- Etc.
There are at least 3 people who take compsci that have distributed pirated content before, guess at least 1 of them (2 are in this room).
- Azlaan (Crunchyroll Sharing)
- Aikam (Nintendo Games)
- Yufan (Music Downloading Software)
Why weren't crackdowns in the 2010's able to kill off piracy?
Piracy had become way too mainstream by then and more distributors would just pop up to fill the void left by crackdowns.
What did the people working on the Avatar movie do when the movie got leaked and piracy became rampant?
They threatened to not make more Avatar media if piracy got out of hand.
What punishment did the US government come up with when they first strengthened copyright laws? (Punishment for distributors)
Fines (Up to $250k)
What 2 things does the term piracy refer to?
1. Distribution of Copyrighted Content
2. Accessing Copyrighted Content
What does Gabe Newell (Founder of Steam) think about digital piracy? (Positive/Neutral/Negative)
He is neutral towards digital piracy despite being the founder of Steam, the largest PC game storefront. He thinks that piracy isn't costing them sales as pirates weren't ever going to buy the game in the first place.
What was one of the earliest evidence of digital piracy?
A letter from Bill Gates complaining about how people were copying his Microsoft software.
Why do people argue piracy isn't ethical regarding unfair profits?
Individual large scale distributors are stealing the works of creators and distributing them for profits, essentially stealing money from creators.
What happened when the US government attempted crackdowns on piracy groups in the 1990s (Operation Sundevil)?
They managed to catch many large piracy groups however, they didn't get a successful criminal prosecution and many piracy groups got off the hook. (Still showed government commitment to anti-piracy)
Why is piracy back on the rise?
Piracy is back on the rise as streaming and game prices have gone up, and the previously centralized services have become less centralized.
What is the slang word for pirated files?
a) Freebiez
b) Warez
c) Loot
d) Filez
Warez became a slang word for pirated files as digital piracy exploded
Why did digital piracy start in the first place?
Digital piracy started as software for computers were too expensive, and people figured out that they could just copy it and send it to their friends.
What is an argument for pirating being ethical involving education?
What do the DMCA and NETA do?
They make individual downloaders of copyrighted content liable for digital piracy (can be legally enforced)
Why did piracy decline after its peak in the 2010's?
Piracy declined due to how riskless and convenient streaming services and centralized platforms were. (e.g. Netflix & Steam)
Which 2 of the following artists sued Napster for copyright infringement? (1/2 points for each correct)
- Metallica
- Madonna
- Eminem
- Dr. Dre
Metallica and Dr. Dre famously sued Napster for copyright infringement in the early 2000's and ultimately won, leading to Napster's bankruptcy.
What was the first way that companies tried to fight back against digital piracy? Explain how it works in detail.
They fought back using checksum verification, a process which took advantage at inaccuracies made during the copying process for software.
What are 2 ways companies sometimes don't offer fair ownership when someone buys a game.
- Force players to pay subscriptions
- Remove content from the game
- Restrict access to the game (Shut down servers)
Why doesn't law enforcement enforce the DMCA or NETA?
It's extremely difficult and impractical to track down and prosecute millions of individual downloaders
What places offer piracy resources for modern pirating?
- Databases (FMHY)
In 2006, the Swedish Piracy Party was founded. It was a real political party that was focused on internet freedom (i.e. piracy). When they ran for the EU parliament in Sweden, what percentage of votes did they receive? (Within 10% to get points)
They actually won about 7% of the votes in Sweden which actually led to them getting seats in the European parliament.