Piracy Lawsuits & Risks

In a report about University of Nevada at Reno, an increase of illegally downloaded files on the university system has been recognized. From 2009 they received roughly three or four reports a week. Compared to the 2010 statistic of three to four a day we can tell the piracy has increased with easier access to the internet. UNR didn’t spend the extra one hundred thousand dollars in order to know specifically which individual IP address the download was performed at. It seems that when Wi-Fi was installed in the residence hall, that’s where we saw the major increase in piracy on the internet. In this report by Ben Miller he compares UNR to Idaho University. Idaho had spent the extra money to be able to track individual users as well as making them sign anti-piracy act on campus. Violators are sent to the Dean of Students who then made community service and papers as a form of punishment.

While the US is trying to attack this serious issue of piracy, statistics show that the money being spent in order to track and attempt to collect money from pirates has not paid off. During 2006-2008 there was an estimated $64 million spent tracking these customers. While only seeing $1.36 million in successful lawsuits and settlements. This is not even two and a half percent rate of return. To these companies it is not about the money, it’s about the mission to dissuade users from pirating files. Companies have since backed away from legal actions, trying a different route of Internet Service Providers to have more warnings and try a scare tactic into customers.

I understand where everyone is coming from with the piracy issue. There has to be a better way to attack this issue besides suing and trying to track people down through the internet. There should be a way to encrypt any new files that are being made so that they cannot be copied or distributed more than once.

What do you think should be done about piracy in today’s society? Is it right? Is it just accepted by today’s standards? Should students be able to download illegally whenever they want? 

Are schools invading our privacy by monitoring illegal actions like pirating? No because they are illegal, and they are looking out for their backs. 

           

http://www.electronista.com/articles/10/07/14/riaa.paid.64m.over.three.years.to.get.14m/

http://nevadasagebrush.com/blog/2010/09/27/students-at-risk-for-piracy-lawsuits/