Digital piracy is an illegal activity that represents a threat

Piracy has been around for a long time and consists in the illegal activity of those sailors, called pirates, who, abandoning by choice the previous life on the merchant ships, board or sink other ships on the high seas, in ports and rivers. Times change, though, you know. There are, however, habits that do not change, evolve but essentially remain unchanged: the new oceans in which these new pirates sail today are no longer represented by the waters but by the opportunities offered by the Net, as well as by computer tools.

With the expression informatic piracy we mean all the illicit activities carried out through the use of informatic tools. Even though many still believe that the online streaming of movies/television series or the download of music/videogames/books on illegal pages are normal actions and without consequences, they couldn’t be more wrong, because these are administrative irregularities involving risks. the illegal content published on these pages keep increasing nonstop in the last few years, despite the technological innovations and the growing attention paid by online companies in combating piracy.

Few disagree digital piracy though it uses content published by others without permission, so it steals them. Many- mainly consumers, who is people who illegally watch and download movie or music- instead they believe that digital piracy is a great offer, since it is free, but they don’t know that they risk real damage to the PC, as well as moral ones (mainly related to identity theft). It is however positive the fact that the statistics affirm the future improvement of digital piracy because the population will realise the damage it causes, not only to the single person but also to the State. In the last few years, digital piracy illegally laws have been introduced and the use of illegal sites is decreased: both for fear of receiving high penalties and for that of losing personal data. In addition, the industry and various companies, such as record companies, which, due to piracy, cannot 100% protect the interests of the artists, should have insurance that covers all possible damages and therefore compensates the artist for eventual lost earnings. Even placing products at a fair price on the market could be an effective deterrent to piracy that would make low gains from illegal selling. In fact, if any artist puts one of his songs on sale at a price that is relatively too high, and this is successful, it is very likely that it will be pirated.

To sum up, we remind you that digital piracy is a crime and should not be underestimated. We are confident that the abuse of illegal sites can become increasingly rare thanks to all the legal offer of films, TV series and music more accessible to everyone from the economic point of view. This would bring a large number of users opting for the regular alternative and then a payment instead of for a pirated site. In fact, we share what Rocco Bellantone writes on the consumer.it website (How to combat digital piracy in Italy): «To combat digital piracy more and more effectively, in addition to the actions to combat the phenomenon». We believe that «users’ concerns about the damage» and the costs «caused by this phenomenon continue to accumulate, for example the high fines imposed by law enforcement agencies. It is followed by all: «institutions competent authorities» and «cultural industry companies».

Serena Boller

Chiara Camporesi

Elisa Ugga

Basma Lachhab

Gloria Capra