An Argument Against Anti-Piracy

By Ryan Wagahoff

IntroductionDue to high speed internet connections and modern advances in internet access, internet piracy is easier than ever. No longer a skill of hackers and tech junkies, piracy is available to anyone. Due to fear of economic loss from piracy, copyright holders are imposing several measures to prevent piracy. For many people, these measures are very intrusive. At what point is the consumer no longer a customer, but a foe for content providers?

Digital Rights ManagementIn order to combat losses from digital piracy,

several publishers and copyright holders use digital rights management (or DRM) software to protect their content.

DRM comes in many forms, and often harms legitimate customers more than pirates.

MusicThe RIAA has made explicitly clear that users

do not have ownership rights to the music they purchase off of sites like iTunes or Amazon.

The user simply owns a “license” or a permission to enjoy the music personally.

The RIAA insists that permissions were enforced even for physical media (Hruska), but their ability to control how customers use the products they bought has never been more intrusive than in the digital age.

FilmCompanies like Cinavia have anti-piracy measures that will mute the audio of the film a consumer is watching if the audio watermark does not match what they have on file. However, some legitimate blu-ray films do not match Cinavia’s watermarks, and cause issues for genuine customers.

Cinavia’s error message, as displayed on their site.

Video GamesVideo games have perhaps the most intrusive DRM of all. Ubisoft Software’s Uplay service requires the user to be connected to the internet at all times in order to continue playing the game.

The Uplay error displayed when a user loses internet connection.

Electronic Arts’ Sim CityThe new Sim City game from Electronic Arts was a recent example of the harm of DRM. Sim City required users to always be online to access their game, but poor server connectivity meant several legitimate customers were unable to play the product they purchased for several weeks after the game’s launch.

The “busy server” message displayed to users attempting to connect to the game (Bain).

The “Cost” of PiracyThe motion picture industry claims to have

lost $6.1 billion dollars in 2005 (LEK, 4), a number which grew drastically to $51 Billion by 2012

There are also claims that China and Russia have the highest piracy rates: 90% and 79% respectively.

The “Cost” of Piracy cont’dSoftware piracy figures aren’t much different.

A representation of software piracy by region (Sophos).

Breaking Down “Copyright Math”In this video from TED Talks, Rob Reid breaks down these figures logically, to show how they don’t stand up against simple math.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZadCj8O1-0

So What is the Solution?Piracy is clearly illegal, and I do not condone its use to acquire software, music, film, etc. However, the use of intrusive DRM that infringes on legitimate customers is not the answer.Former Microsoft employee and co-founder and managing director of Valve Software, Gabe Newell, believes piracy is a service problem.

Gabe Newell on Piracy“…If a pirate offers a product anywhere in the world, 24 x 7, purchasable from the convenience of your personal computer, and the legal provider says the product is region-locked, will come to your country 3 months after the US release, and can only be purchased at a brick and mortar store, then the pirate's service is more valuable. Most DRM solutions diminish the value of the product by either directly restricting a customers use or by creating uncertainty (Tufnell).”

Gabe Newell being interviewed at reception at the Casual Connect game conference in Seattle (Takahashi).

Valve’s Steam ServiceTo combat the intrusive nature of most DRM services, Valve launched their game and software platform, Steam. Steam allows users to purchase software and games at discount prices, and store that software in a digital library that’s accessible online and offline.

The front page of Valve’s Steam Store

Click icon to add picture

ConclusionInternet piracy is a crime, and it’s understandable that copyright holders would want to protect against it. Unfortunately, piracy will never go away. DRM software should never infringe on legitimate customers. Instead, copyright holders should focus on providing a compelling service and a product worth paying for to dissuade piracy.

Works Cited Bain, John. N.d. Photograph. Arstechnica. 5 Mar. 2013. Web. 5

Apr. 2013. Hruska, Joel. "RIAA Claims You Do Not Own Your ITunes Music

Purchases." ExtremeTech. N.p., 16 Nov. 2011. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

LEK. The Cost of Movie Piracy. Rep. LEK, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

N.d. Photograph. Gamesbeat. By Dean Takahashi. 25 July 2012. Web. 5 Apr. 2013.

Reid, Rob. "Rob Reid: The $8 Billion IPod." YouTube. Ed. TED. YouTube, 15 Mar. 2012. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.

Sophos. "Hackers Prey on Pirate Software Users, Sophos Warns." Sophos.com. Sophos, 16 May 2007. Web. 05 Apr. 2013.

Tufnell, Nicholas. "Interview: Gabe Newell." The Cambridge Student Newspaper. Cambridge University, 24 Nov. 2011. Web. 03 Apr. 2013.