Why The Laws Regarding The Prohibition Of Piracy Are Wrong

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“Everybody does it." it is, of course piracy, currently an illegal act which one third of people in Europe do everyday. Piracy is when you digitally download something you haven’t paid for and is not licensed for you to use. The Digital Economy Act (DEA) was passed in 2010 by the last labour government. This ‘law’ is supposed to protect content producers by blocking what's known as torrent websites which allows you to download music, film and games. What is not known about this law is that it allows the government to police you whilst you are on the internet and that they are legally allowed to follow you as you browse the internet. This controversial law protects digital distributors in turn for your privacy. This law is unfit for purpose and should be removed.

The idea of doing something bad makes adrenaline pump through your blood. It makes doing something “illegal” that much more appealing. We can take several examples of this happening. For example in America, prior to the prohibition of alcohol (introduced 1920), drinking was a social activity done only in the comfort of your house, at dinner, even women would use alcohol for cooking however, prohibition changed this. By making it illegal making it more difficult to produce alcohol for consumption, perhaps counter-intuitive, made it more of a social pastime. What at one time had just been a normal part of a normal day now had the added allure of the forbidden fruit. The consumer reaction to this law on online piracy reflects this behaviour of temptation. After the introduction of the DEA, piracy was publicised and talked highly amongst the press, the public became more aware of piracy and started to try it out. This is reflected on Ofcom’s report that there has been an ...

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...d he is not kept under silent conditions. Let me ask you which is worse: a mass murderer? Or a person who founded the pirate website “piratebay” who does no harm to anyone?

The DEA and global attitude toward piracy is wrong. The law which is supposed to protect us against piracy doesn’t do what it is supposed to do. It exploits the fact that the consumers are vulnerable and it trades your privacy at the expense of supposed “protection”. The global attitude towards piracy is wrong, treating harmless people like serial killers, torturing them, soaking them in silence waiting for them to crack up. The fight for online piracy and freedom of the internet continues. The laws right now are unfit for purpose and need to change, as the real crime is by governments and local authorities, the crimes against humanitarianism, against the poor pirates who mean no harm.

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