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Piracy: A Different Perspective Essay

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Avast! Ye scurvy dog! This is the image usually conjured up when one is discussing piracy. At one point in time, this was correct - sailors roamed the seas freely pillaging merchant vessels. Now a days, Piracy has mainly slipped underground. Chances are, you may know a pirate personally without knowing the crimes they commit. For these crimes are not public, instead they are committed online. Filesharing is on the rise, much to the parent media corporation's chagrin.

Piracy is popular because of its ease of use, and widespread availability. The requirements are simple - If you've got a computer with an active internet connection, filesharing is possible. Pirates rely on a technology known as "Bit torrent" this software allows large …show more content…

This blanket legislation covers all intellectual property "owned" by large media corporations - whether they be music files, movies, pictures, or books. It's clear - share copyrighted works without the owner's consent and the government has the right to prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. This includes up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 for a movie - It's stated before the opening scene of a movie on a screen put in place by the FBI. This raises suspicion, how much influence does the government have on the media, or how much control does the media have on the government?

A recent 60 minutes episode put a bad spin on piracy. Big-time director Steven Soderbergh states that "piracy is costing Hollywood $6 billion a year at the box office" however he fails to mention the heavy profits Hollywood continues to make. It's apparent the media continues to make money when one realizes the volume of advertisements and media surrounding us nearly every day. Even with piracy's vast subculture of filesharers, it fails to scratch the surface of Hollywood's grip on the collective wallet of the world. Loss is loss, and the corporations have the right to protect their assets, but intentionally skewing a supposedly nonbiased news program is simply wrong. The American public deserves the truth, and by not exposing both sides of the issue, 60 minutes has failed their duty to report the truth to the public. When one

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