Piracy

Piracy is the unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material, such as a song or movie. The problem being discussed is piracy happening on the internet. There are many people stealing things online, such as DVDs and songs. As much as people may think it is not a large issue or affects other people, the law says otherwise with the very expensive fines that people are receiving.
Jammie Thomas-Rasset knows first-hand how expensive it actually can be, having her 1.92 million dollar fine. She was caught illegally downloading and distributing more than 1,700 songs to at least 2.3 million people on the internet. RIAA spokeswoman Cara Duckworth said says that is the same as standing on a busy street corner with 150 CDs and giving out free copies to everyone who walks by. Putting into those terms makes it easier for people to understand. Even Microsoft Word is being fined 290 million from stealing an idea from a Canadian company. This should make people think twice about how serious piracy really is.
There is talk about having a top secret copyright “police.” People that may be caught and believed to be regularly downloading copy-protected material, such as movie and music files, could have their internet connection taken away for up to 12 months and be forced to pay a fine. These are very extreme consequences for a rising and serious problem.
I personally do not have a problem with downloading songs or movies, it is not something I feel guilty or worry about. Taking these copyright things and selling them or distributing them to many other people is different in my opinion, and it is something I would not do.