Piracy on the rise

The issue of piracy is something that cannot be avoided in the modern world. Music, movies, games and much more are being downloaded at a rapid rate globally. Of all the industries suffering from this phenomenon, it appears that the music industry is facing the greatest problem with regards decreasing profit margins.

Several artists in the music industry have come forward asking the public not to download their work. A notable case which became widely publicised is the case of Metallica against the online file sharing company, Napster. Metallica went on to win the case and the court ruled against Napster who agreed as a result to negotiate with Metallica. Napster introduced an upgrade to the system which secretly monitored the users. However this worked against both Metallica and Napster. Downloaders who felt their privacy rights were abused quickly developed methods to evade the Napster controls.

Other artists have come forward with their own views on illegal downloading. Certain artists such as Prince feel that there is little threat from the downloading as "the internet's completely over". He believes it to be a fad and would rather not have his music available online through illegal or legal downloading. He has had a long-standing battle against the internet peaking when he stated that he was suing sites such as Ebay and Youtube in 2007. The most significant development from this is the fact that many music publishers can object to their artists' work being available on Youtube with the audio being removed from many Youtube video clips.

The issue of piracy is highly debated but I would assume that there would be very few people who could honestly say they haven't benefited from illegal downloading. There is no doubt that it is indeed wrong and is a act of theft. However many believe it is not serious to download as the artists are so wealthy already. The issue of piracy is more likely to increase in the coming years and more enforcements will surely be introduced. As the supply of TV shows or music, for example, increase in availability it is likely demand will rise as illegal download becomes easier. The entertainment industry needs to increase the easy availability of its product online at competitive prices should they hope to combat the illegal downloading phenomenon.