Arthur Kanai
Economics, Period 3
Current Event
Summary
Piracy is an increasing problem. Every song ever made is on the net and free for download. Even movies before they’re released. We all do it, we all download songs. Music industry has started to feel the heat. 15% decline in cd sales in the last two years. 6 the first, and 9 the last. 400,000- 600,000 movie swaps a day. If each movie is worth about 20 dollars, that’s about 8 million – 12 million dollars a day. It’s not only music, but it’s movies, games, software, and television.
People have started to get punished for piracy. Last month, students at Princeton, Michigan, and Rensaeler we sued by record exsecutives. They’re seeking 150,000 dollars per song shared. Recently, a court has ordered Verizon to release the information of one of their costumers who has allegedly 600 songs. It started with napster, now it’s things like kazaa. These programs have definitely gotten smarter. There is no central server to just shut them off anymore. It’s great.