Digital Piracy Cannot Be Stopped

From the early days of IRC to the creation of The Pirate Bay, online piracy has grown from a minor annoyance perpetrated by an underground community to a mainstream issue that impacts several industries. Internet savvy users originally shared music and videos with one another through a string of underground chatrooms, however with the rise of video-sharing website YouTube, it has become increasingly easy to watch or listen to copyrighted material on the Web for free. While Google  does its best to remove infringing content, throughout the years users have found various techniques that allow them to bypass the Internet giant’s search and destroy tools, and keep their videos online for millions to see. YouTube and similar sites are only the tip of the iceberg, however.

Each day more and more users are turning to peer-to-peer file-sharing websites that use the BitTorrent protocol, the most popular being The Pirate Bay. These websites offer users the opportunity to download millions of movies, music, games and software with a simple click of the button. For years, the United States government has attempted to shut down pirate websites, however it isn’t that simple and online pirates always seem to be one step ahead of the authorities.

Even as popular services like Demonoid and Megaupload are shuttered, users will find new places to download pirated content.

As Nick Bilton of the The New York Times notes, “stopping online piracy is like playing the world’s largest game of Whac-A-Mole. In the arcade version of Whac-A-Mole, the game eventually ends — often when the player loses.” Bilton wrote. “In the piracy arms-race version, there doesn’t seem to be a conclusion. Sooner or later, the people who still believe they can hit the moles with their slow mallets might realize that their time would be better spent playing an entirely different game.”

Via: BGR

AddThis Website Tools
Prateek Panda

Prateek is the Founder of TheTechPanda. He's passionate about technology startups and entrepreneurship and enjoys speaking to new founders every day. Prateek has also been consistently regarded as one of the top marketing experts in the region.

Recent Posts

Craft-tech fusion: Startups redefining Indian handicrafts with AI & e-commerce

India’s handicraft industry is a dazzling mosaic of culture and creativity, now being rewoven with…

8 hours ago

Can you trust AI with your fundraising secrets?

A founder’s guide to data privacy in the age of GenAI AI has shifted from…

4 days ago

Can India be a South Asian tech titan in the making?

India has been embracing technology at a high rate. The world has expectations from the…

5 days ago

Building tomorrow’s offices: Blending aesthetics with automation, sensors & sustainability

In a world where the lines between physical and digital experiences are increasingly blurred, the…

5 days ago

For medical research & doctors AI has been a good team player

No matter what other controversy Artificial Intelligence (AI) might be getting into, AI has been…

6 days ago

UTI Mutual Fund warns against fake app & WhatsApp scams

The UTI Mutual Fund has said that it has observed that some groups, individuals, handles…

6 days ago