One of the primary aims of copyright is to ensure society is rich with Essay

One of the primary aims of copyright is to ensure society is rich with creative works. Without copyright creators would not create new works. Discuss - Essay Example Pirating copyrighted products is an inexpensive venture since pirates only need a computer, internet access, and power to run the computer (Waldfogel 2012, p. 44). In addition, available digital technology boosts the ability to produce excellent copies. Worldwide losses due to infringement of copyrights are estimated to be $4.2 billion per year. To put it into perspective, in 2005, motion picture industry and the software industry reported losses estimated at $ 18.2 and $34 billion respectively. Today, digital piracy is the primary issue of concern, which calls for a thorough understanding of its driving forces. It is worth noting that a majority of today’s issues relating to digital piracy relate to the evolution of computing era (Cronan & Al-Rafee 2006, p.238). However, advancements in technology are also vital in the protection of copyrighted products as well as digital rights management. On the other hand, pirates have strived to make use of technology to â€Å"hack† or â€Å"crack† protected contents. The only option left for copyright owners includes finding strong legal protection against copyright infringement. The legal system has agreed that technological advancements have the potential to circumvent the legal system, and leave a poor intellectual property framework (Matsuura 2009, p. 25). The ability to store data in a binary format is the cause of digital piracy (Fenwick & Locks 2010, p. 18). From this point, this paper will look into forms of digital piracy (media and software piracy), their incidences and motivating factors. It would also be crucial to look into some of the technologies applied in fighting digital piracy. Other than technologies, the paper will also touch on copyright laws and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. To date, the media industry has suffered heavy losses due to increased rates of digital piracy. Information generated through digital media is easy to represent