Forget Somalia, Piracy is worldwide

By: Kallie Hansen
Not every pirate has a peg leg, a parrot on his shoulder or a knack for commandeering ships. Some are even prepubescent boys searching for files to download as they listen to death metal in their basement. Others are people just like you and me, mostly honest consumers that occasionally take the risk of piracy.
As the pirate problem increases off the coast of Somalia, technology pirates all around the world seem to have found the borderless treasure. Illegal, free music services such as Bittorrent, Limewire and Pirate Bay enable music lovers everywhere to download their favorite tunes.
Although the music industry has tried to throw this problem over-board by creating commercials, filing lawsuits, and raising the fines, Davy Jones' locker is still unoccupied. Despite the ad campaign by the Motion Picture Association of America to help stop the piracy, there is still an estimated 35 million pirates at large.
“I can’t say I’m a full-time pirate, but free music downloads save a lot of green. But I guess it is slightly dangerous,” said sophomore Emily Ford, the good girl gone pirate.
Pirating music is illegal, but is it a bad thing? A recent study at the BI Norwegian School of Management showed that people who download illegally are more likely to buy a greater amount of music than traditional downloaders. With more technology shifting to the Internet, vinyls and even CDs have died due to online stores such as iTunes and Amazon.
BI’s study also showed that pirates bought ten times more illegal music than those who never download illegally. Who said all pirates are dreadful? These modern age bandits have even helped online music stores increase in revenue. Although the record stores have declined, so have the malls simply because we have become a technology-driven society.
Former Beatle Paul McCartney isn’t so laissez-faire about illegal file sharing. “If you get on a bus, you’ve got to pay,” he said, creating an inventive metaphor. “And I think it’s fair, you should pay for your ticket,” he concluded in a BBC interview. Musicians, especially, think that file sharing should be considered a sin because the million dollar checks that were once plentiful have now ceased.
A report from the Business Software Alliance and the International Data Corporation has found that losses to the industry from pirated products have reached the 50 billion mark, making the art of pirating an industry in itself.
Pirates are lurking everywhere, from the treacherous seas to major urban cities. In the New York suburb of White Plains, teenagers Michelle and Robert Santangelo have been caught with the loot, or rather a library of illegal shared files on their computer. After a rough 4-year battle, they have settled out of court for a fine of $7,000. And there are similar cases like this springing up everywhere. Pirates worldwide might need to learn to start buying their treasures. It may not be worth the risk, especially on such a grand scale.
“I always buy my music,” said fickle freshman Grace Carbeck. “I’m scared to illegally download.”
As much as people think that pirates are swashbuckling sailors, the truth of the matter is that we are all potential pirates. We may not don the eye-patches and leather boots just yet, nor associate with the Somalians, but the lure of piracy sure has us hooked.