Do governments lack the will to thwart the piracy of software, music and movies?

Theresa Smith — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 15:42:14 +0000

Piracy of software, music, movies is a huge issue across the globe and the fight against it is being waged on many different fronts. For instance, 41% of software worldwide is unlicensed, counterfeit or pirated. From the recent marketing communications project I participated in, it seems that one approach that makes sense is the intervention by internet service providers (whether on their own or forced by the countries they operate in) to thwart known pirates whether they realize what they are doing is wrong or not.

In October 2009 Greg Sandoval reported for CNET, that “France has adopted a strong antipiracy law, one that may mean those who chronically share unauthorized movies and music online will lose Web access for up to a year.” Sandoval wrote that Dan Glickman, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America said:

“Today’s decision is an enormous victory for creators everywhere. It is our hope that ISPs will fully honor their promise to cooperate and that the French government will take the necessary measures to dedicate resources to handle the enormous task ahead.”

In December 2009, Sandoval followed up by looking at where the recording industry was in their fight against piracy and began by writing, ” A decade after the rise of Napster and a year after promising a new antipiracy strategy, the Recording Industry Association of America appears to be floundering on the piracy front.” According to Sandoval “the number of ISPs that have acknowledged adopting the RIAA’s graduated response program is zero.”

Sandoval quoted RIAA CEO Mitch Bainwol “Are we prepared to make an announcement that is broad in scope and cuts across ISPs? No. Are we engaged in significant discussions that we believe will ultimately prove productive? Hell yes.”

In an op-ed piece for the NY Times, Bono said that the people benefiting most from online piracy are those running ISPs “whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business.”

In December 2009, Disney CEO Robert Iger wrote a piece for the Huffington Post discussing “Two Common Sense Ways to Improve the Economy”. In this post, Iger asks Obama for tougher anti-piracy legislation:

“But there are many who use the Internet to profit from pirated content and who have no interest in voluntary solutions that would put an end to their commercial exploitation of the creative output of others. For that reason, there is a role that government must play to stop piracy on those platforms and services unwilling to police themselves. The confirmation last week by the Senate of Victoria Espinel as the nation’s first Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator is a great step. But it’s critical she be given the necessary resources to get the job done.”

The question is since anyone today can pirate a movie as stated by Paramount CEO Huntsberry, do governments have the will to pressure and force ISPs to shut down the pirates.

Robert Iger – Pathway Communications

Do governments lack the will to thwart the piracy of software, music and movies?