Yes or No to piracy?

Who hasn't bought a pirated item? Did you know that other than cds, vcds and dvds, there is plenty of other pirated items out there such as bags, clothes, games, computer softwares and even handphones. Answers.com defines piracy as "the unauthorized use or reproduction of copyrighted or patented material". So as long as you are purchasing and using something that is not authorised by the the patented company, you are supporting piracy. Did you know that even if the item is an original, buying it illegally i.e. from a smuggler is also supporting piracy?

Here are some examples:

1) Cheap games and softwares cds for RM5 at lowyat
2) Branded watches for RM20 each at Petaling Street
3) Dvds, cds, and vcds
4) Branded t-shirts, handbags, shoes, blouses, skirts from pasar malams or buying them at half the original price or less from small unauthorised shops
5) PSP or PS2 from unauthorised dealers
6) Downloading mp3s, movies, mtvs and ringtones from torrrent websites or p2p programmes such as limewire or kazaa.
7) Downloading sharewares and then break the codes from hacker websites online
8) Streaming tvs online from unauthorised websites
9) Sharing movies, music videos and songs on websites
10) Photocopying and distributing books such as textbooks and story books illegally

Here are some of my views:

1) Originals are usually very very expensive. Pirated items are cheap and can be as cheap as one-tenth the original price or more! For instance, a pirated cd is RM5 and its original is about RM50. A pirated bag can be bought with RM20 when the branded original is approx RM 1500! Perhaps the owners (entertainment industries and commercial companies) should lower their prices to an affordable level?

2) Pirated items are ubiquitous and are sometimes even more accessible than the originals. You can get them from pasar malams and even in small shops in shopping malls. The next time you walk in a shopping mall, try to notice how many of them sell pirated items.

3) Piracy is taken so seriously under Malaysian Law, which provides for fines of up to RM20,000 for each unlicensed software copy, or up to five years in prison, or both. But despite these punishments, you must be wondering why you can still see pirated items everywhere. There are places which are confirmed to have pirated items and yet are not raided. The question is, whether the authorities are serious about stopping piracy?

4) Downloading movies and songs online is so easy! You just need a fast broadband connection for it. Compare that to going to stores to buy vcds, cds and dvds.

5) Some believe that piracy saps the creative work of thousands of people. It's only fair to pay these ppl for their hardwork. You think that piracy brings the sales down? I've read an article online (can't find it now or else I'd quote it) saying that experts cannot really pin-point the relationship between piracy and sales. Sales are generally believed to be lowered, there is an evidence saying that both piracy and sales can both be going up together: isn't it a common knowledge that only popular items are pirated? The pirated items generally attract ppl from lower classes i.e. those who cannot afford to buy the original. Since the social classes targetted are different, they are independent of each other.

6) Is wiping out piracy a responsibility of every individual? Do we want it to be wiped out at all?

What do you think?

Yes or No to piracy?
	Yes
	No
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