Issue 114 Pirates always win July 5 2013

Ever wonder why industries like the music industry and television always try and fail to protect their owner ship of songs and shows. Because Pirates on the internet always find a way to get that information and offer it up for free. Even more so, hackers (modern internet pirates) are taking other wise secret or proprietary information and bringing it to the public eye. And you know what, they cannot be stopped.

Dumb Government: Governments have always thought that they could control the airwaves, but they failed to account for pirate radio. These pioneers of radio found unused or hijacked signals to broadcast their music (and that of others). Sure it is illegal, but it did not stop them. If a pirate station would be shut down, then another would take its place. The internet made this easier as now sites like YouTube could broadcast anywhere all over the globe. Many times these pirates would translate foreign television and post it too. Thanks to the internet, bootleg versions of shows with quality equal to the original could be brought before the masses. As a result, laws changed. Copyrights became loosened up allowing people to see and sing what ever songs they want by different people without fear of being sued for copyright infringement. That’s right you can sing a Green Day song on YouTube or similar sight without the government coming after you (at one point people were being sued for singing songs as advertisers would post ads which gave those individuals money). Basically, government gave up.

The movie and CD industry: Bootlegs (illegal copies of the original) are common. Any knock off can be bought off a street corner for less than half the price (quality is a different issue). Entire villages in China make money from bootleg products. But the industries were forced to adapt. Some conscripted these bootleggers to make copies of their music and shows for them. Others release the CD's and videos as soon as the movie completes its run in theaters. Basically they try to head off the bootleggers before they can profit off their illegal bounty. But others still just move on. They stopped fighting these pirates and just let them do as they please. Companies make money from the first airing of a show, movie and song and then let the fur fly as bootleggers scramble to make cash on the product. Companies make their profit and then move on accounting for the bootleggers speed to bring products to the market. So companies know they must offer something better to entice people to buy more than just the movie. That is why some offer behind the scenes looks and mini shorts as part of the package. Bootleggers will get those too, but they have to rip the information out of a CD or DVD first that may be encoded. Thus, the industries buy time to make a profit while we enjoy better entertainment for a reduced price. In other words consumers reap the rewards.

Intellectual property: Hacktivists and others want more information to be made available to the average person. They are fighting copyrights laws to end monopolies on numerous journals, and articles and even patents. The result is hacktivists and other sights providing that content for free and making money based on site visits from advertisers or small downloading fees. The internet has allowed information to spread like wildfire and even if you manage to shut down one site thousands stand ready to take their place. Like wise government secrets are not safe either and thus we now know not just those we are being spied on but how they are doing it. This is thanks to these hackers and whistleblowers (regardless of their motives) providing us with the ability to watch our government and react to its abuses (in some respects the hackers are replacing the press in this role). As a result, governments are forced to re-evaluate themselves and are forced to change to fit their illegal programs within the framework of proper law that still protect our rights. So thank you pirates.

Conclusion: Pirates have existed in one form or another throughout history. They challenged social norms and pushed boundaries often forcing change. Today’s pirates (hackers) and bootleggers are doing just that. They have become de-facto protectors against corporate monopolies, corrupt governments and over priced entertainment. The pirates will continue to win, and they are unstoppable.