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DIGITAL “PIRACY:”
Smith, Trevor
Smith, Trevor
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digital_piracy_35.pdf
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this electronic medium. This increase in global communication and file sharing has raised many questions concerning the moral status of such file transfers. In many cases, where the files, or the content of the files, are protected by copyright, these file transfers are seen as theft or piracy. Much has been written - in academic journals, business publications, and legal challenges and briefs – concerning these so-called moral transgressions, but the focus of these inquiries has been primarily the piracy of music and software.1 It is the focus of this paper to expand this discussion to the moral status of so-called television piracy. Here, I attempt to unearth basic moral claims which might prohibit the free distribution of television programs by unlicensed and unauthorized individuals. In general, these arguments take two forms: utilitarian and deontological. Many of the basic utilitarian and deontological arguments concerning the piracy of television programs mirror and parallel the arguments made surrounding the piracy of music and software, yet it will be shown here that the unique medium of television – as given by the ways in which television is paid for, distributed, and consumed - necessitates a reevaluation of traditional moral arguments used against other types of digital piracy. While these arguments can prohibit the piracy of music and software they cannot yield any sensible moral prohibitions restricting the unlicensed piracy of television programs.
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2012
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With permission of the license/copyright holder