Background
Internet piracy is considered the most important
issue facing the enforcement of copyright laws today. Media companies,
particularly those which specialize in films and music, have been strongly affected
by the ease in digital downloading which the Internet allows even for users
relatively lacking in technical expertise.
A common
such means for digital downloading exists in the form of peer-to-peer services,
though more sophisticated users may attempt to directly hack into other
computers. Operators of services allowing downloading may also be liable for
prosecution. In the United States, such actions have been prohibited since the
1976 No Electronic Theft Act.
P2P Sharing
BitTorrent
involves illegally
download copyrighted files, such as motion pictures, music recordings and other works.
This has caught the attention of the Motion Picture Association of America and
the Recording Industry Association of America, who have placed lawsuits in the laps of many BitTorrent
websites which support the piracy of copyrighted work. BitTorrent, Inc., the
founders of BitTorrent protocol, has established a firm copyright infringement
policy to help combat the pirating of copyrighted
works of authorship.
