Outline

Thesis Statement: Although the advantages of piracy are attractive, the disadvantages are too great to let piracy continue and grow the way it is. Contrary to what many of the uninformed pirates believe as to why these types of piracy are legal, or why it should be, most of their arguments are invalid.

• Background on Computer Piracy
• Definition of Piracy
• When Computer Piracy Started
• The Piracy Evolution
• The Effects of Piracy
• Anti-Piracy Organizations
• The Three Areas of Computer Piracy
• Advantages of Computerized Piracy

• Warez
• Definition
• Methods of Internet Piracy
• The Expense of Software
• Software is too Expensive to Obtain Legally
• Software is so Expensive Because of Piracy
• Revenue Loss Due to Software Piracy
• Try Before You Buy
• Pirates Will Buy Software if They Like It
• Few Pirates Ever Buy Software Once They Have It
• Warez is like Trading Digital Baseball Cards
• The Legality of Warez Distribution
• Software Distribution isn't Illegal when it is Not For Profit
• Not Any More Due to the No Electronic Theft Act
• Getting Caught
• There are too Many Pirates to Prosecute Every One of Them
• Prosecution is on the Rise
• Methods of Piracy Detection



• MP3
• Definition
• History of MP3
• The Revenue Loss of the Artists
• One Person Can't Make a Difference
• Piracy Reduces the Artists Low Profit even More
• Getting Caught
• The Internet is too Large to Catch Everyone
• The Arrests are Increasing with the RIAA in the picture
• The Law
• Pirates Don't Make a Profit
• The Government Doesn't Care
• Conversion to the MP3 Format



• Emulation
• Definition
• General Definition
• Technical Definition
• The Attractiveness of Emulation Piracy
• Backed up ROMs
• Backed up ROM images are legal Under the U.S. Copyright Law
• The transfer of ROM images is illegal over the Internet
• Games No Longer in the Main Retail Market
• Outdated Games No Longer Sold do not Hurt the Company
• The Copyright Law Still Applies
• Used Game Stores Still Sell the Games and Will Suffer
• Promoting the Game Company
• Emulation Promotes the Game Company
• Example of a Company Hurt by Emulation
• The Difference One Person Makes
• One Person Can't Make a difference
• The Astounding Growth of the Internet produces Astounding Losses



• Alternative Methods to Combat Software Piracy
• Operating System Copy Protection
• Meterware