Reading Response 4/26- Piracy and Privacy

When I was in elementary school, it was required that all of the students take a computer class. In this class we were educated on typing, how to access and search for information, as well as internet safety. I vividly remember one of the classes being solely dedicated to the dangers of piracy and illegal downloading, and how seriously the students were urged to never partake in this activity.  This was in the year 1999, and as an eight year old, I made a vow to never entertain this illegal behavior.  Fast forward to the year 2008, and at only seventeen years old, I was pirating hundreds of dollars of movie editing software from none other than, The Pirate Bay.  Although I knew that what I was doing was very wrong, it was just so easy and accessible, which the article You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You accurately explains. Anyone with a limited understanding of how a computer works has the ability to pirate, and there are rarely any consequences in doing so, because the sites and their users are always one step ahead. Even with The Pirate Bay being shut down in 2014, there are still torrent sites available to the public at the press of a button. This article also raises a good point that illegal downloading is a service problem, rather than an issue of individual pirating sites. Internet users will always find a way to bypass laws and restrictions in regards to piracy, and as long as these sites are made so easily available, people will take advantage of them. Although I choose to no longer partake in this activity out of respect for the music and film industry, I can see why others continue to do so…it is just too easy.