What’s The True Cost Of Piracy?

Media piracy is a current global issue faced by both consumers and industry groups. High prices for media goods, low incomes, and cheap digital technologies are the main reasons for the rise of media piracy. The True Cost of Piracy Since many people download music, movies and TV shows without paying, how are job markets and industries impacted? Find out: For decades, it was claimed that online piracy cost the U.S. economy up to $250 billion and 750,000 jobs per year. However, in 2010, the Government Accountability Office released a report that announced that those figures "cannot be substantiated." How are businesses truly impacted, and how do Americans feel about the issue? Learn more: THE ISSUE CLAIMED LOSSES How much do businesses claim they lose every year because of piracy? THE PUBLIC'S OPINION A majority of Americans feel it's "reasonable" to share files: In 2008, piracy accounted 41% The Information Technology & % OK with sharing with family: of installed PC software. About Innovation Foundation claims that 70% 75% $51 billion was lost in 2009 due to software piracy. pirated content takes up 24% of Internet bandwidth globally. Movie/TV files Music files % OK with sharing with friends: From 2004 through 2009 alone, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks. It is reported that movie piracy costs U.S. film studios about $25 billion a year. 54% 56% Movie/TV files Music files 2 ANTI-PIRACY BUDGETS $120 million (2009) COSTS OF ENFORCEMENT $60-75 million (2009) $55 million $45-55 million (2007) The copyright industries go to great – and expensive lengths in enforcement advo- cacy and anti-piracy cam- paigns. While industry groups ifpi RIAA ABSA. are reluctant to release their annual enforcement budgets, Int'l Federation of the Phonographic Industry Recording Industry Association of Motion Picture Business here are some estimates from Association of America Software Alliance a 2011 report: America 3 WHO PIRATES? Research shows that cost is the main factor that drives college students to copy content illegally. The lower the students' income, including their parents' income, the more likely they were to search for free, illegal options. Percent who have bought pirated DVDS, copied files or discs from friends or family, or have downloaded music, TV shows, or movies for free: TOP PIRACY SCHOOLS: During the 2006-07 academic year, the RIAA revealed the top 25 music-pirating universities in the U.S. according to how many copyright infringement notices the association sent out to each school. Here's a look at the top ten, listed by how many notices each received: 70% of 18- to 29-year-olds University of South Carolina Purdue Ohio University University of University of Tennessee- University Nebraska- Lincoln Knoxville 1,287 1,068 1,002 959 914 46% of American adults ASSAGHL SYOF 24% of Republicans, 35% of Democrats and 31% of Independents say they have copied or downloaded University of Massachusetts- Amherst Michigan State University University of Wisconsin- Howard University North Carolina music for free. State University Madison 897 753 572 550 513 Men and women are equally likely to pirate. 3 COSTS ON CAMPUS Public Universities The copyright industries aren't the only ones who try to prevent piracy. Universities across the country spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars to prevent piracy from taking place on campus. Private Universities |HOW MUCH TIME IT PERSONNEL SPEND ON P2P ISSUES DURING THE 2007-08 ACADEMIC YEAR: Percent of public and private universities during the 2007-08 academic year that said they address piracy one of the following ways: INSTALLED A TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS LOSE NETWORK CIO and other officers SOLUTION TO STEM PIRACY ACCESS FOR VIOLATIONS IT managers, directors, and advisors Technical personnel in IT unit IT help desktop staff Administrative and secretarial support hours 100 200 300 400 500 HOW UNIVERSITIES ADDRESS PIRACY Some universities may spend more than $500,000 in cash and personnel time annually on P2P compliance. Here's a close look at amounts: FINANCIAL PENALTY FOR P2P VIOLATIONS Special hardware costs License fee for software Other direct costs $50,000 $100,000 $150,000 $200,000 MANDATORY USER SANCTION STUDENTS EDUCATION PROGRAM FOR P2P VIOLATIONS In the fall of 2007, nearly 93% of both public and private higher educational institutions reported that they have a written campus policy or code of conduct that regarded downloading music and video content from the web. Ars Technica | Columbia University | Yahoo News | Freakonomics | BBC News | Campus Computing | Statesman | SSRC | Information provided by: http://www.backgroundcheck.org SOURCES BACKGROUND CHECK ODD