tag:theconversation.com,2011:/uk/topics/online-piracy-16076/articles
Online piracy – The Conversation
2019-04-25T14:01:18Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/115384
2019-04-25T14:01:18Z
2019-04-25T14:01:18Z
Game of Thrones: for HBO, piracy is ‘better than an Emmy’ as it battles Netflix
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270970/original/file-20190425-121220-15v6pkr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1917%2C1080&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Home Box Office</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eight years after the first season premiered, the long-awaited winter has finally come – Game of Thrones’ final season is here. The television series created by David Benioff and Daniel Brett Weiss from the books by George RR Martin has built a rich and complex multi-thread plot-knot of epic battles, of the living and the undead, of long owed-debts to be paid, and of the culmination of clan stratagems to win the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms. </p>
<p>But at the end of season seven in the autumn of 2017, it wasn’t the clan warfare that had us cliffhanging, but the thought of the army of undead white walkers and their zombie dragon bearing down on Westeros.</p>
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<p>Many millions of fans are waiting breathlessly for the denouement – and it’s a legion of fans that has grown exponentially over the eight-year run. In the US, for example, the audience has grown from <a href="https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/game-of-thrones-season-two-ratings-22729/">2.5m viewers in the first season</a> (2011) to an average of <a href="https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/game-of-thrones-season-seven-ratings/">10.3m during season seven</a>, which peaked at more than 12m viewers during the season seven finale on August 27, 2017.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270940/original/file-20190425-121224-15owutz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Tyrion on trial.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Helen Sloan © Home Box Office</span></span>
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<p>According to <a href="https://www.muso.com/magazine/">MUSO</a>, a magazine which specialises in piracy, the first episode of season seven alone was <a href="https://www.muso.com/magazine/game-of-thrones-season-7-opener-pirated-91-74-million-times/">pirated 91.74m times</a> and the season accumulated more than <a href="https://www.muso.com/magazine/game-of-thrones-season-7-pirated-over-1-billion-times/">a billion illegal downloads</a> a week after it ended.</p>
<p>So many people viewing outside of the official channels doesn’t just suggest the incredibly large audience GoT can attract, it also demonstrates the growth in illegal downloading of television shows – <a href="https://www.muso.com/magazine/publishing-under-threat-as-demand-for-illegal-content-rises-over-2018/">11% last year</a> – despite the effort of the streaming technologies to kill off piracy.</p>
<h2>Piracy has its rewards</h2>
<p>But this hasn’t necessarily been a problem for HBO. In 2013, the boss of Time-Warner (which owns HBO), <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/04/15/game-of-thrones-sets-piracy-world-record-but-does-hbo-care/">Jeff Bewkes, declared</a> that piracy was: “Better than an Emmy” because more people watching the show inevitably led to more people deciding to pay for subscriptions. He said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’ve been dealing with this for 20, 30 years – people sharing subs, running wires down the backs of apartment buildings. Our experience is that it leads to more paying subs. I think you’re right that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show in the world and that’s better than an Emmy.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Since then, GoT has repeatedly become the most pirated series of all time in every season. And with season seven this <a href="http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/87317-most-pirated-television-programme">record was broken</a> yet again.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C13%2C3014%2C2066&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270899/original/file-20190425-121249-1ef12a7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Team of rivals: the clans unite in the face of a greater threat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Game of Thrones © 2019 Home Box Office, Inc.</span></span>
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<p>Obviously, HBO has explored ways to reduce piracy: implementing participatory fan culture, using videos to advertise the DVD/Blue Ray box set, building “fan-art challenges”, or broadcasting episodes simultaneously around the world. Season five was seen in 173 countries simultaneously, enabling fans – pretty much anywhere in the world – to watch the show legally rather than having to pirate it. </p>
<p>But legal streaming has not reduced piracy as expected. Instead, the availability of so many streaming platforms has <a href="https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/d3q45v/bittorrent-usage-increases-netflix-streaming-sites">encouraged consumers back into piracy</a> and while these platforms are strongly competing with each other for subscribers and for screentime, there are clearly millions of fans of Game of Thrones who are not prepared to pay for the privilege. </p>
<h2>Battle of the Box</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, the competition for the Iron Throne on the screen is paralleled – in the real world – by the epic struggle for supremacy in television production. Back in 2015, John Landgraf – CEO of FX Networks – complained that <a href="https://deadline.com/2015/08/john-landgraf-too-much-television-decline-comedians-cancellation-1201495237/">400 new series were scheduled</a> to air that year: “This is too much television,” he declared. And since then, the number of new series has only increased – Netflix alone aired <a href="https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/netflix-700-original-series-2018-1202711940/">more than 700 original productions</a> in 2018, posing a clear threat to HBO’s empire.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M8wyL8_cyIg?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
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<p>For two decades, HBO was the indisputable ruler of television. The slogan “It’s not TV, it’s HBO” was backed up with the success of household name must-watch series such as The Sopranos (1999-2007), The Wire (2002-2008), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000 – present) or Sex and the City (1998-2004).</p>
<p>But in 2018, for the first time in 17 years, HBO <a href="https://www.adweek.com/tv-video/netflix-ends-hbos-17-year-emmys-streak-as-the-most-nominated-network/">received fewer Emmy nominations</a> than its main competitor – garnering 108 against Netflix’s 112. At the same time, Netflix gained 28m new subscribers, making a total of 139m around the world, whereas HBO Now, the streaming platform, <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/539290/hbo-now-subscribers/">reached 5m in February 2018</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2995%2C1688&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/270928/original/file-20190425-121258-1hv5wox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Come fly with me: Daenerys takes a joyride with her dragon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">©2015 Home Box Office, Inc. All rights reserved.</span></span>
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<p>So the battle is on – way beyond the kingdoms of Westeros. Viewers are now used to streaming services – and they have the means to escape the paywalls if they need to. The rise and rise of digital platforms has also broken the stranglehold of the traditional giants such as Disney, Time Warner and News Corp. Pretenders to the crown include some relative newcomers that are fast becoming household names: Netflix, Amazon, Google’s YouTube, and lately Snapchat and Apple are also turning to producing platforms in their own right.</p>
<p>The final season of Game of Thrones emerges at the centre of this ferocious competition. Whoever ends up on the throne in Westeros, one thing is clear – the battle for domination of our screens will rage on, pirates or no pirates.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115384/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joan Ramon Rodriguez-Amat does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
For HBO, online piracy is not the huge issue it represents for the platforms that screen its content.
Joan Ramon Rodriguez-Amat, Senior Lecturer in Media, Communications and PR, Sheffield Hallam University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/68141
2016-11-17T18:54:42Z
2016-11-17T18:54:42Z
Amazon’s new Grand Tour series could be the next illegal download victim
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146189/original/image-20161116-13547-1e2u1dv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, and some very fast cars for The Grand Tour. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amazon Studios</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The much awaited new car show, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Behind-scenes-Clarkson-Hammond-May/dp/B01J94A5GQ/">The Grand Tour</a>, launches on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DBYBNEE?_encoding=UTF8">Amazon Prime</a> today, Friday November 18.</p>
<p>The show is hosted by Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond, all former presenters of the BBC’s popular <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006mj59">Top Gear</a> series. All three signed a three series deal with Amazon.</p>
<p>Each series will include 12 hour-long episodes. But unlike many video-on-demand (VoD) series which release all episodes simultaneously, The Grand Tour will have weekly episodes, more like traditional television.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kLtpcxtk4HI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The Grand Tour Offical Trailer.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Due to the nature of the program and the hosts’ association with Top Gear, there have been <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/30/jeremy-clarkson-fears-bbc-could-sue-over-new-racing-show-the-gra/">intellectual property fears</a> about its resemblance to the BBC program and its format. At its height, Top Gear was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/11/top-gear-bbc-jeremy-clarkson">reported</a> to be worth £50 million (A$83 million) a year for the BBC. </p>
<p>Clarkson <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/30/jeremy-clarkson-fears-bbc-could-sue-over-new-racing-show-the-gra/">said</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The lawyers pointed out that we couldn’t host the show from a static location because, although it had [originally] been our idea, the BBC owned it. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>So to alleviate this issue at least, the team will travel the world and <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/from-top-gear-to-the-grand-tour-jeremy-clarksons-new-car-show-for-amazon-20160511-got1mk.html">host each episode from a giant tent</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146167/original/image-20161116-13534-1a58a7x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Grand Tour in grand tent in California.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amazon Studios</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The program is <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/10/30/jeremy-clarkson-fears-bbc-could-sue-over-new-racing-show-the-gra/">reported</a> to have a budget of £4.5 million (A$7.4 million) per episode, ten times the budget <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3475840/Panic-forces-Gear-budget-BBC-lavishing-extra-200-000-episode-bosses-fear-fail.html">allocated</a> when the trio were hosting Top Gear. </p>
<p>The opening title sequence for The Grand Tour itself is <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/0/the-grand-tour-on-amazon-prime-what-will-jeremy-clarksons-new-sh/">said</a> to have cost £2.5 million (A$4.1 million) alone, set to show homage to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392190/">Mad Max: Fury Road</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146168/original/image-20161116-13506-lht3ob.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Grand Tour in Namibia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amazon Studios</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So it’s a big show with big expectations, from both fans and Amazon Prime.</p>
<p>At the moment Amazon Prime is only available in US, UK, Germany and Japan but Amazon has <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/b?node=12022739031">just announced</a> the show will be available in more than 200 countries from December.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wRkNMvK8UEE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">What is that accent for Holden Man 3,000?</span></figcaption>
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<p>So what impact could The Grand Tour – and the potential of a wider Amazon Prime launch – have on Australia’s changing media landscape and Australians’ viewing behaviours?</p>
<h2>A flagship launch program</h2>
<p>There had been some <a href="http://www.afr.com/business/media-and-marketing/tv/amazon-weighs-up-prime-time-launch-in-australia-20161007-grxi1b">speculation</a> that The Grand Tour would be the flagship program used to launch the Amazon Prime service in Australia.</p>
<p>Netflix has seen great success after its <a href="https://theconversation.com/netflix-is-everywhere-almost-so-what-does-this-mean-for-local-media-52857">global launch</a>. In Australia, Netflix is the major VoD service, far outweighing the subscription numbers of local services. </p>
<p>The success of Netflix has also seen a <a href="https://theconversation.com/buyouts-mean-the-future-of-australian-video-on-demand-is-hard-to-picture-66683">shake-up</a> of the local media landscape.</p>
<p>Quickflix’s future is unclear despite a <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/media-and-marketing/quickflix-snapped-up-for-13m-by-us-entrepreneur-20161004-gruqoq.html">recent takeover</a>, Presto will <a href="http://www.tvtonight.com.au/2016/10/presto-to-end-in-january.html">cease its service</a> in January 2017 and Foxtel is reshaping its packages and pricing as it attempts to re-imagine itself in this ever changing space.</p>
<p>With Amazon Prime now launching in Australia there will be two international VoD services competing with a single locally owned VoD service, Stan.</p>
<p>There is also Hulu, another VoD and streaming service, which may too set its <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/gadgets-on-the-go/hulu-cracks-down-on-foreigners--plans-for-australia-20140428-zr0qi.html">sights on Australia</a> in the near future. This is more likely to have the largest impact on Foxtel due to its <a href="http://www.recode.net/2016/11/1/13490026/hulu-disney-fox-espn-fox-sports-streaming-tv">recent deal</a> to stream several sport channels.</p>
<p>So The Grand Tour will be available to Australian consumers, but only after the launch date and on a subscription service, no free to air access.</p>
<p>Will some Australians seek alternative ways to gain access, as we saw occur with Orange is the New Black and House of Cards prior to Netflix’s local launch? Australian consumers have shown they will find a way to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/apr/26/game-of-thrones-season-six-australia-tops-world-in-illegal-downloads">access the content</a> as they did with Game of Thrones, available here only on Foxtel.</p>
<p>Will the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-drop-in-illegal-movie-downloads-in-australia-49042">recent apparent decline</a> in copyright infringement begin to increase again, thanks to The Grand Tour? </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146190/original/image-20161116-13506-6eg78b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fans will want to see what antics the presenters get up to on The Grand Tour.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amazon Studios</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Australian and illegal downloads</h2>
<p>Australia has a reputation as a world leader in piracy of <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-10/movie-piracy-12-17yos-illegally-download-films-doubles-australia/7918808">movies</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/australians-worlds-worst-for-illegal-music-downloads-20120918-2643a.html">music</a> and <a href="https://mumbrella.com.au/australia-leads-way-illegal-downloads-game-thrones-219249">television programs</a>. </p>
<p>But research shows that one of the major reasons Australians seek out illicit downloads in such numbers is that it is more difficult to access very popular content legitimately in Australia. </p>
<p>Compared to consumers in the United States and the European Union, Australians <a href="https://theconversation.com/when-the-price-is-not-right-technology-price-gouging-in-australia-10582">pay more for digital goods</a>, have less choice in distribution channels, are exposed to substantial delays in access, and are sometimes denied access completely.</p>
<p>When quizzed about their downloading habits, it became clear quite quickly that <a href="https://eprints.qut.edu.au/75933/36/g8_dootson_suzor.pdf">Australian consumers often feel morally justified</a> in downloading content illicitly if it is not available through legal channels. </p>
<p>These are not the hardcore pirates who never pay for content. They are ordinary consumers who believe that paying for content is the right thing to do, but only if they are treated fairly in return.</p>
<p>It is sometimes easy for Australians to feel hard done by in digital media markets. Change has been slow in Australia, and consumers blame distributors here for not keeping up with changing demand for more convenient digital distribution channels.</p>
<p>A large part of the problem is that media markets are segmented geographically, but demand for hit television programs, movies and music is global. Massive advertising campaigns whip up demand for new releases around the world, and fans want to be part of the global conversations around new releases.</p>
<p>International media markets are a complex business. For a premium distributor looking to keep consumers locked into expensive monthly cable plans, or a new entrant trying to build a user base, it makes financial sense to lock up content with exclusive deals.</p>
<p>But when consumers are told they must wait for access, many will turn to illicit downloading rather than take what they see as a bad deal that is forced upon them.</p>
<h2>Will we need multiple subscriptions?</h2>
<p>The major changes in digital media markets over the last few years means consumers are getting better opportunities, but Australian VoD services are struggling to compete.</p>
<p>Increased competition usually means better outcomes for consumers in the long run. In the short term, though, the fragmentation we are seeing in distribution channels could lead to more exclusive releases and shrinking catalogues as subscription services try to conquer the market for viewers.</p>
<p>As more streaming services begin to compete with each other they look for ways in which to gain subscribers. Netflix has used its Netflix originals to lure subscribers and is set to <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/home-entertainment/tv/netflix-allocates-78-billion-for-creating-original-content-in-2017/news-story/f9ea0c06e9982729ba689694f293ac29">invest</a> US$6 billion ($A7.78 billion) in 2017 on original content.</p>
<p>But if there are a number of VoD services all producing their own exclusive original content, where does this leave the consumers? Is the future one where consumers must subscribe to multiple VoD services, or somehow try to jump between them? </p>
<p>The Digital Media Research Centre is <a href="https://digitalsocialcontract.net/australian-consumer-access-to-digital-media-content-755c4cc3c35f#.ag38i4lvt">tracking outcomes for consumers</a> in these rapidly changing industries.</p>
<p>In the meantime, consumers will continue to revolt. There is a good chance that exclusive deals <a href="https://digitalsocialcontract.net/do-exclusive-releases-drive-increases-in-copyright-infringement-f0ebc21bdf57#.r1hsj0ttb">may drive more consumers to infringe</a> copyright, and that would see The Grand Tour as their next target for illegal downloading.</p>
<p>Ultimately, until VoD services work out a way to get consumers access to the media they want, everyone will keep losing out.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146191/original/image-20161116-13518-1hkllnm.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May on the The Grand Tour in Johannesburg.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Amazon Studios</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68141/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicolas Suzor is the recipient of an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellowship (project number DE160101542) and receives other project funding from the ARC. He also leads projects funded by industry groups, including the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN) and the Australian Digital Alliance. Nic is also the Legal Lead of the Creative Commons Australia project and the deputy chair of Digital Rights Watch, an Australian non-profit organisation whose mission is to ensure that Australian citizens are equipped, empowered and enabled to uphold their digital rights.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station).
</span></em></p>
The new motoring series will be used to help launch another video on demand service in Australia. But will consumers find away to access the show and avoid paying another fee?
Nicolas Suzor, Associate professor, Queensland University of Technology
Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/58321
2016-04-22T21:56:57Z
2016-04-22T21:56:57Z
Why it’s tough to find Prince’s songs online – and other musicians are thankful
<p>Legendary music icon Prince Rogers Nelson <a href="http://www.startribune.com/jon-bream-prince-was-a-once-in-a-generation-artist-who-never-rested-on-his-laurels/376594221/">died unexpectedly</a> on April 21, 2016, sending shock waves through the lives of many music lovers. With a career spanning nearly 40 years and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_albums_discography">even more albums</a>, Prince was one of the most prolific musicians of this generation.</p>
<p>Naturally, as Prince fans process his death, they will also search for his music online to purchase and play while they mourn the loss of a music titan. But most of these searches <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/04/21/why-you-can-t-listen-to-prince-s-music-after-his-death.html">will be futile</a> because American law provides strict protections to copyright owners, and Prince was a pioneering advocate when it came to asserting copyright protections for his creative works.</p>
<p>As an intellectual property and entertainment law professor (and avid Prince fan), I believe Prince’s legacy as a musician must include the mark he made on the American copyright law landscape. </p>
<h2>Songs as intellectual property</h2>
<p>Prince was fiercely protective of his music and rejected most online dissemination of his copyright-protected work. </p>
<p>Copyright law is meant to <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1674246">protect original, tangible works</a> like music and videos. It gives the original creators the right to copy, distribute and remix that work. And it prohibits others from doing any of these things without the creator’s permission.</p>
<p>Prince famously feuded with Warner Bros. Records over ownership of his music because his early contracts signed over much of his music’s ownership rights to the record company. After a <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/prince-fought-big-labels-ownership-artistic-control-n560161">nearly 25-year feud</a>, which included a name change and regular uses of the word “slave” to describe his perceived role in the relationship, Prince received ownership of his catalog back from the company and the legal rights stemming from that ownership. </p>
<p>And Prince wasn’t shy about asserting his rights against others online. He felt that <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/you-cant-find-prince-songs-7809292">only large corporations</a> such as Apple and Google, and not artists, made money from online music sales. He battled with YouTube in 2007, which resulted in more than 2,000 videos being <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/prince-sues-internet-sites-for-breaching-his-copyright-402336.html">removed from the website</a>.</p>
<p>Beyond his business beef with the online side of the music industry, Prince had artistic aversions to some of the technology as well. He often expressed a view that digitization negatively affected music, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jun/23/prince-interview-adele-internet">stating in one interview</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I personally can’t stand digital music… You’re getting sound in bits. It affects a different place in your brain. When you play it back, you can’t feel anything. We’re analogue people, not digital.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such views even led Prince to file a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2014/01/why-prince-is-suing-his-fans/">short-lived lawsuit</a> against 22 fans who posted links to bootlegged copies of his music on Facebook. He was, by all accounts, staunchly opposed to online uses that he felt marred his work. </p>
<p>So, you won’t find most of Prince’s catalog on popular services Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify or the like as you seek to reminisce over your favorite Prince tracks. Subscribers to rapper and businessman <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/03/jay-z-tidal-streaming-service/">Jay Z’s streaming service</a> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/02/prince-pulls-music-from-all-streaming-services-except-tidal">Tidal</a>, however, <a href="http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/prince-songs-streaming-links-youtube">can stream everything</a> from 1984’s iconic Purple Rain album through to HITNRUN Phase Two, an album released in December of last year. In 2015, Tidal <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/02/prince-pulls-music-from-all-streaming-services-except-tidal">was spared</a> Prince’s treatment of every other streaming platform, apparently because he felt it had a friendlier model for artists that gave him <a href="http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11481888/prince-streaming-tidal-spotify">much more control</a> over his music and paid better. </p>
<h2>Signing away copyright to score a deal</h2>
<p>Control over music, based on copyright ownership, is a huge part of the entertainment industry. And the deck is stacked against new artists seeking a traditional record deal. A record label holds all of the cards: money, access to production, manufacturing, distribution and marketing channels, and legal expertise.</p>
<p>If an artist wants to sign with the label, he typically enters into <a href="http://www.academia.edu/533323/The_evolving_relationship_of_record_label_and_artist">notoriously one-sided contracts</a> which sign away all of his rights and control over the music he ultimately creates. It has happened to the best of them, from the <a href="http://musewire.com/deconstructing-pop-culture-the-beatles-contract-history-with-capitol-records-1665/">Beatles</a> to <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/nickmessitte/2015/04/30/five-truly-terrible-record-deals-compiled-for-your-convenience/#7bdcc6794919">TLC and Michael Jackson</a> to Prince himself.</p>
<p>Congress had the potential for exploitation in mind when it updated the copyright law in 1976 to include something called <a href="http://www.copyright.gov/docs/203.html">termination rights</a>. Now <a href="http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap2.html#203">Section 203 of the Copyright Act</a> allows artists to terminate contracts made after January 1, 1978 if <a href="http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2091&context=facpubs">certain requirements</a> are met after 35 years. </p>
<p>These rights recognize that an artist has almost no bargaining power at the outset of his or her career and also that the value of a piece of music is hard to predict before it is created. Artists who successfully assert their termination rights will no longer be limited to the bad deal they signed before they achieved fame and commercial success. They can either buy back the rights to the music 100 percent to take advantage of new opportunities and technologies, or negotiate a much better deal based on past successes.</p>
<p>Termination rights formed the basis for Prince’s legendary reclamation of his music catalog. Other artists, including <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7263857/paul-mccartney-beatles-songs-publishing">Paul McCartney</a> and <a href="http://allaxess.com/news/ownership-rights-of-%E2%80%98eye-of-the-tiger%E2%80%99-in-dispute/">Survivor</a>, have also used the law to regain ownership of their own music.</p>
<h2>Musicians wresting back control</h2>
<p>Newer artists have learned from the mistakes of these pioneering legends. </p>
<p>Prince often encouraged younger artists to <a href="http://www.inquisitr.com/2321515/prince-compares-music-industrys-record-contracts-to-slavery-gives-warning-to-younger-artists/">resist the Draconian restrictions</a> set up by record labels, and many took heed. For example, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis famously won four Grammys in 2014, including the highly coveted best rap album award, for “The Heist,” which was made <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014/01/28/how-macklemore-tapped-major-label-muscle-to-market-an-indie-album/">without traditional record label support</a>. </p>
<p>Other artists have taken a page from Prince’s songbook and openly criticized and shunned traditional music-streaming services. Taylor Swift <a href="http://taylorswift.tumblr.com/post/122071902085/to-apple-love-taylor">wrote a letter to Apple</a> explaining she would hold back her blockbuster “1989” album because Apple Music would not pay artists during an initial three month trial of the new music-streaming service. In addition, Swift and others, including Adele, David Byrne and The Black Keys, do not allow their music to be <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3054479/can-spotify-lure-back-taylor-swift-and-adele">streamed on Spotify</a> based on what they perceive to be an unfair revenue model for artists.</p>
<p>These efforts have, in many ways, shifted the music industry in a different direction. The success of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis encouraged artists to remain independent and grow success online organically. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/music/2015/06/22/taylor-swift-apple-music/29094853/">Apple responded</a> to Swift’s letter by quickly announcing it would pay artists during the trial period, and thousands of independent artists then allowed Apple Music to stream their music after initial staunch resistance. Though Tidal <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/hughmcintyre/2015/09/10/great-business-model-or-not-tidals-sheer-number-of-exclusives-is-impressive/#319fb3d12c19">has had its challenges</a>, it has garnered an impressive <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tidal-one-year-has-jay-zs-music-streaming-service-been-success-failure-1552082">2.5 million subscribers</a> since Jay Z’s purchase and relaunch in 2015. Prince’s early efforts, while often viewed as restrictive and resistant, have encouraged today’s artists to recognize and protect the value of their work. </p>
<p>Even though fans will jump through some hoops in the short term to find Prince’s work online, his legacy of artist vigilance will continue to influence the music industry for years to come.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58321/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Shontavia Johnson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Gifted musician, peerless showman – and fierce protector of his copyrighted work. Prince fought battles that changed the direction of the music industry and are helping the next generation of artists.
Shontavia Johnson, Associate Professor of Intellectual Property Law, Drake University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/58208
2016-04-21T04:32:58Z
2016-04-21T04:32:58Z
The Cyber Security Strategy is only a small step in the right direction
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/119580/original/image-20160421-8026-149i5q7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cyber crime costs the Australian economy millions of dollars a year.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today released the government’s <a href="https://cybersecuritystrategy.dpmc.gov.au/assets/img/PMC-Cyber-Strategy.pdf">Cyber Security Strategy</a>. A total of A$230 million will be spent over the next four years to “enhance Australia’s cyber security capability and deliver new initiatives”. </p>
<p>The initiatives generally involve improving Australia’s general awareness and capabilities to defend against cybersecurity attacks, and potentially launch its own cyberattacks.</p>
<p>More specifically, they involve partnering with the private sector in setting the “strategic agenda through annual Cyber Security meetings”. </p>
<p>This partnership will extend to participation in the <a href="https://www.acsc.gov.au/">Australian Cyber Security Centre</a>, which will be moved to a new facility. It will also involve sharing more information between security agencies and the private sector.</p>
<p>There will be increased funding of research into the economic costs of cyberattacks in order to allow organisations to manage investment in cybersecurity defences. </p>
<p>The Computer Emergency Response Team (<a href="https://www.cert.gov.au/">CERT</a>) will be bolstered, along with extra funding for the Australian Signals Directorate (<a href="http://www.asd.gov.au/">ASD</a>), Australian Crime Commission (<a href="https://crimecommission.gov.au/">ACC</a>) and Australian Federal Police (<a href="http://www.afp.gov.au/">AFP</a>) for increased expertise and improved ability to detect and defend against cybersecurity vulnerabilities. </p>
<p>Another element of the strategy is to expand Australia’s ability to grow its own cybersecurity industry through increased funding for research and development in this area. A <a href="http://www.innovation.gov.au/page/cyber-security-growth-centre">Cyber Security Growth Centre</a> will be established to add to the existing <a href="http://www.business.gov.au/advice-and-support/IndustryGrowthCentres/Pages/default.aspx">Industry Growth Centres</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.csiro.au/en/Research/D61">Data61</a> will receive more funding to focus on cybersecurity innovation, and universities will also receive funding for training, research and education of undergraduate and postgraduates in the area of cybersecurity. </p>
<h2>Reading between the lines</h2>
<p>Although this new investment in cybersecurity will be generally welcomed, there are <a href="http://www.itnews.com.au/news/revealed-australias-new-cyber-security-strategy-418000">already</a> questions about whether it is going to be enough to do the job. </p>
<p>The US this year announced a <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-obama-budget-cyber-idUSKCN0VI0R1">US$5 billion increase in funding for cybersecurity</a> to US$19 billion, and the UK last year pledged <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellors-speech-to-gchq-on-cyber-security">£1.9 billion</a> to the same cause.</p>
<p>Another question in response to the strategy is what exactly is meant by championing an “open, free and secure internet”. The definition of “open and free” likely depends on your particular point of view. </p>
<p>The government’s strategy calls for an “Australian Cyber Ambassador” to lead national efforts to ensure the internet is free from censorship, but also to support privacy and the rule of law. </p>
<p>But would upholding privacy extend to stopping the government from surveillance activities on its own citizens? Clearly, this would be at odds with the government’s <a href="https://www.ag.gov.au/dataretention">metadata retention legislation</a>. </p>
<p>“Open and free” may also not extend to any radical changes in the application of shutting down access to pirate sites distributing <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">illegal or pirated content</a>. </p>
<h2>Safe havens</h2>
<p>Another interesting question is what’s meant by the desire to shut down cyber criminal “safe havens”. </p>
<p>The report mentions that attacks often originate from overseas, but it is not clear how a country would go about shutting down attacks originating from China, for example. </p>
<p>One intriguing possibility is that an anonymised network like [Tor](<a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/tor">https://www.torproject.org/</a> could potentially be shut down. Tor has long been recognised as a haven for cybercriminals and, increasingly, the starting point for <a href="https://blog.cloudflare.com/the-trouble-with-tor/">cyberattacks</a>. </p>
<p>Security researchers have already <a href="http://www.itnews.com.au/news/close-door-on-tor-or-face-liability-for-threats-researchers-408435">stepped</a> up calls for businesses to block Tor traffic as a protective measure. </p>
<p>The cybersecurity strategy also hints at the fact that Australia has, or is in the process of developing, a cyber offensive capability. This is the first time this capability has been publicly alluded to. </p>
<p>The increased focus on cybersecurity is a much needed initiative. The threat of cyberattacks affects individuals and organisations alike. And, like other threats to our environment, if left unchecked, they could significantly hinder society’s ability to function normally and to continue growing. </p>
<p>Our reliance on technology is now a given and cybersecurity is as important a consideration as protecting our health, food and water sources and general environment. From that perspective, the cybersecurity strategy is a welcome but very small step in the right direction.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/58208/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Glance does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Cyber security is now a priority for the government, with $230 million committed to its new Cyber Security Strategy. But is it enough?
David Glance, Director of UWA Centre for Software Practice, The University of Western Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/55712
2016-03-16T04:32:07Z
2016-03-16T04:32:07Z
Is it piracy? How students access academic resources
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113693/original/image-20160303-9481-14nqe1l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many students don't consider downloading textbooks to be piracy.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Academic textbooks are <a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2014-10-03-students-hurt-by-pricey-textbooks">expensive</a> and the cost of textbooks globally has continued <a href="http://www.aei.org/publication/the-new-era-of-the-400-college-textbook-which-is-part-of-the-unsustainable-higher-education-bubble/">to rise</a> alarmingly even as other educational resources have become relatively cheaper. For students, <a href="https://wiki.creativecommons.org/wiki/What_is_OER%3F">open educational resources</a> should make more sense – certainly financially. </p>
<p>But, globally, the uptake of such resources <a href="http://repositorium.sdum.uminho.pt/bitstream/1822/33478/1/PA_2014ECEL%20CopenhagueDinamarca%28Scopus%29.pdf">is low</a>. There are not nearly enough relevant local open-source textbooks in countries like South Africa, where I work at a university. Where they do exist, academics and students barely know about them.</p>
<p>So how do students access the resources they need? We investigated this as part of a larger research project across six countries: Argentina, Brazil, India, Poland, South Africa and the US. How do students access resources like books? Do they consider copyright and what do they think about it? Do they pirate learning materials? How do they make sense of what they do? </p>
<p>This study concentrated on students at one of South Africa’s top research-intensive universities. We compiled a survey that was answered by 1,001 students and conducted six focus groups with students across three professional disciplines. These disciplines were chosen because students were likely to be prescribed textbooks. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>Here are a few key findings from the survey:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>students are accessing learning resources in both print and digital forms – it’s not a case of “either/or”;</p></li>
<li><p>they are accessing these resources both legally and illegally without necessarily knowing the difference. Many gave contradictory answers when asked what percentage of their resources were downloaded legally and illegally; and</p></li>
<li><p>notably, only a fifth of students said that all their resources were legally obtained. The comment “we all pirate” was made several times.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>It also emerged that accessing learning resources through a variety of sites requires a certain measure of expertise. Students admire their peers who know where to ferret out such resources, and such knowledge is unevenly spread. In this sense the notion of a homogenous student body whose members are all natural <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/04/business/digital-native-prensky/">“digital natives”</a> is challenged. </p>
<h2>Principled pragmatism</h2>
<p>Another interesting part of the study was what it revealed about students’ attitudes to their own practices and actions. Many made a joke of their piracy or distanced themselves in an amused fashion by shifting responsibility to others or to the technology itself. For instance, some joked:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s Google’s fault.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They also displayed a matter-of-fact pragmatism. For many, it is a matter of principle, with one saying: “Is it unethical to want to be educated or is it unethical to charge so much [for textbooks]?” </p>
<p>Others believe that they are doing the right thing: “… even though in my head I know it’s wrong, it’s just a technical thing. Substantively speaking, it’s the right thing to do,” one explained. Another said: “I am not worried about the consequences of illegal downloading. [I’m] worried about graduating.”</p>
<p>The respondents also made a distinction between downloading textbooks and other media forms, particularly music and books. They consider the educational aspect central and feel the pursuit of education justifies their actions. As one said: “It’s about access to education: it is huge! It’s the future of our country.”</p>
<p>An important distinction was also made between plagiarism and copyright. Plagiarism was considered unethical and risky, while copyright appeared to be less of an issue. Said one student: “Copyright – it does not even seem like an issue any more … I copy everything … But it almost seems like it isn’t copyrighted, it almost seems like it’s free for everyone.”</p>
<p>There was also a glimmer of an alternative perspective. Some students acknowledged the <a href="https://www.oercommons.org/">existence</a> and value of open, free content, but did not know where to access it. They also said more of it is needed.</p>
<h2>A grey zone</h2>
<p>These quotes are just a taster. The students’ voices are articulate on matters of principle, plagiarism, piracy and access to textbooks and other academic resources. They raise critical issues for new models of publishing, for digital literacies and for open scholarship.</p>
<p>Through the literature review and the findings of this study, it is clear that there is a grey zone in the access of learning and academic resources that is now simply part of normal life in a new communication and information order.</p>
<p><em>The full paper, “Student Practices in Copyright Culture: Accessing Learning Resources” is in press in Learning Media and Technology and is now online <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2016.1160928">here</a>. The manuscript is <a href="https://goo.gl/9BhkNF">also available</a>. This article was adapted from <a href="http://lauraczerniewicz.co.za/">a post</a> on the author’s personal blog.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55712/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Laura Czerniewicz receives funding from the National Research Foundation and the International Development Research Centre</span></em></p>
When it comes to accessing online learning materials, university students don’t think much about whether their downloads might amount to piracy or copyright infringement.
Laura Czerniewicz, Associate Professor, Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching, University of Cape Town
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/49042
2015-10-15T03:27:25Z
2015-10-15T03:27:25Z
Why the drop in illegal movie downloads in Australia?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98473/original/image-20151015-19377-51yhhl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=418%2C0%2C1186%2C799&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Play your part in reducing online piracy: a campaign by the IP Awareness Foundation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.ipawareness.com.au/campaigns/2015-play-your-part">Screengrab/IP Awareness Foundation</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been a decline in online piracy in Australia, according to a report by the Intellectual Property Awareness Foundation (<a href="http://www.ipawareness.com.au">IPAF</a>) released this week at the <a href="http://www.movieconvention.com.au">Australian International Movie Convention</a>, on the Gold Coast. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that piracy in Australia is <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">far higher</a> than many other countries. But why are the figures actually falling?</p>
<p>The IPAF report indicates that part of the decline in piracy of movies and television programs is associated with increased access to legal alternatives. </p>
<p>Does this mean piracy was due to lack of <a href="https://theconversation.com/tv-shifts-from-hero-to-zero-but-even-netflix-cant-kill-pirating-45087">legal access</a> to content all along for Australians?</p>
<h2>All in the figures</h2>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.ipawareness.com.au/media-release/new-piracy-research-shows-fall-in-rates-following-a-range-of-measures-including-new-legislation">IPAF report</a>, Australians engaging in piracy declined across all age groups from 2014 to 2015, except 35-49 year olds. The decline varied across the age groups; 18-24 from 54% to 46%; 25-34 48% to 40%, 35-49 steady at 20% and 50-64 13% to 6%. </p>
<iframe src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/z17Q0/2/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" oallowfullscreen="oallowfullscreen" msallowfullscreen="msallowfullscreen" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Despite the decline in the demographic of 18-24 year olds, they are still the most active in pirating content; almost twice as active as the average Australian population.</p>
<p>This is the same demographic that <a href="http://www.oztam.com.au/documents/Other/Australian%20Multi%20Screen%20Report%20Q2%202015%20FINAL.pdf">watch</a> 41 hours of television per month, half the average for for all Australian age groups. The 18-24’s also watch more than 26 hours of online video across multiple devices, more than double the average of all Australian ages.</p>
<p>IPAF executive director Lori Flekser, <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/netflix-no-panacea-to-piracy-ipaf/story-e6frgakx-1227566545891">argues</a> that new video on demand (VoD) services, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/netflix">Netflix</a>, have contributed to the decline in piracy. This was the main reason for 33% of the responses to the IPAF survey for their decline in piracy.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6312-netflix-already-dominates-streaming-video-on-demand-television-may-2015-201506230322">early indications</a> this year were that many Australians now access legal content through VoD services. The international giant Netflix is far in front of local services Stan and Presto. </p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6447-netflix-passes-two-million-australians-in-august-2015-201509080554">report</a> by Roy Morgan has shown that the uptake of Netflix in Australia continues to rise. In April there were 286,000 homes (748,000 people) with Netflix, which rose to 855,000 (2,221,000 people) in August.</p>
<p>As Tim Martin, of Roy Morgan Research, <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6447-netflix-passes-two-million-australians-in-august-2015-201509080554">argues</a>, these services “need not only to attract but retain subscribers” due to their <em>no contract</em> models. There is a concern, though, over what will happen to the figures once any trial offers expire.</p>
<h2>Other contributors to a decline in piracy in Australia</h2>
<p>The other reasons put forward by respondents to the IPAF survey for their decline in piracy were feeling bad about pirating and acknowledging piracy is theft (21%); worrying about being caught or getting a computer virus (16%); and lack of time (13%).</p>
<p>Media coverage could be another factor in the decline in piracy in Australia. The IPAF notes that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-will-australias-dallas-buyers-club-pirates-have-to-pay-40302">Dallas Buyers Club legal case</a> this year also contributed to the decline in piracy in Australia. This is despite the fact that the case has yet to be finalised.</p>
<p>The content that many <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">Australians pirate</a> is, in fact, international and not that of the local industry. Australian films only equated for 2.4% of <a href="http://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/research/statistics/boxofficeaustralianshare.aspx">box office share</a> in 2014.</p>
<p>But the Australian film and television industry supports about 47,000 livelihoods, which is why the <a href="http://www.ipawareness.com.au/campaigns/2015-play-your-part">IPAF says</a> it’s important that everyone plays a part in dealing with piracy of content.</p>
<figure>
<iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/126751101" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="" mozallowfullscreen="" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The IPAF’s Lori Flekser says there is “no silver bullet” to preventing piracy but she notes that part of the recent decline is due to the efforts of “delivering great content at accessible prices to Australian consumers”.</p>
<p>It’s a point that Netflix’s Reed Hastings has <a href="http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/03/netflix-ceo-reed-hastings-on-the-nbn-piracy-and-launching-in-australia/">already acknowledged</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The key thing about piracy is that some fraction of it is because [users] couldn’t get the content. That part we can fix. Some part of piracy however is because they just don’t want to pay. That’s a harder part. As an industry, we need to fix global content.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This clearly shows a much broader understanding of piracy as something not just isolated to particular countries, such as Australia.</p>
<p>Internet video consumption is expected to <a href="http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/ip-ngn-ip-next-generation-network/white_paper_c11-481360.pdf">more than triple</a> from now to 2019. Internet video will be 80% of all consumer internet traffic in 2019, with traffic to peer to peer websites to remain steady from now through to 2019. These figures show that internet video viewing is only going to increase, and that places more emphasis on tackling piracy.</p>
<p>But piracy is a global issue, one that the industry needs to work together to address. The IPAF report indicates that ease of access was a key contributor to reducing piracy in Australia, but it is still far too early to determine how much of a contributor it was, with VoD still in its infancy in Australia. </p>
<p>Reports are yet to include the other alternatives, such as YouTube, to <a href="https://theconversation.com/up-next-video-on-demand-shakes-up-the-television-industry-45434">traditional television</a> and VoD services, which could also impact the future trends of video viewing.</p>
<p>What impact these various factors will truly have on piracy rates in Australia is still yet to be seen, but this an issue far from being resolved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49042/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station).</span></em></p>
A welcome fall in the number of people in Australia who admit to pirating movies and television shows. But what’s the cause off this shift in online behaviour?
Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Screen Media, Victoria University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/46589
2015-08-28T09:32:14Z
2015-08-28T09:32:14Z
Is there a teaching moment in the Ashley Madison hack?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93225/original/image-20150827-326-1vk8s7n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Why did people make their personal information so easily available to a company that facilitates cheating?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/viirok/2498157861/in/photolist-4NKHig-oCKxT-4s3Mmd-oCT59-dpYE6B-79p1wW-4eZnhN-9pNy3j-ffJjkw-3R8Fyq-9GhW94-oCT4U-7oATva-8uwo-9pNw7Y-4eErsa-6bo6Kf-7RUwtv-7D7PPY-7S335j-afajTC-oCT9q-9pNuQy-6ZY5Yw-8iDkVc-Cswv3-8yYbso-8k1TQj-7RUxct-9pKuf8-5ptkTt-mYiyF-oB2Gr-3Djmk2-oBCHx-5yzRGx-yGGwi-yGFmz-6yJgsp-4yrrcm-4VVR2y-4kEKU3-oCT72-7RUx5V-oCT8s-7BGwuS-n6ZbC-9pNujN-bBuS2-so61Kr">Johan Viirok</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why would anyone use their official work or school email address to register for a website that promises to facilitate extramarital affairs?</p>
<p>Reports indicate that there are 74,468 unique “.edu” email addresses in the recently hacked user database of <a href="http://AshleyMadison.com">AshleyMadison.com</a>. Might we not expect educators and students to have a better understanding of the internet (which, after all, began with a link from <a href="http://www.internetsociety.org/internet/what-internet/history-internet/brief-history-internet">UCLA to the Stanford Research Institute</a>)?</p>
<p>I am not only a proud user of a .edu email address, but as a professor at the University of California, I research media culture. It might make us laugh that people would entrust their information to a company that facilitates cheating, in the naive assumption that it would not cheat on its users. But in the information age, using your home address, credit card information and work-related email address to sign up for a service that promises illicit connections is so careless that it constitutes <a href="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/trail-secrets-leave-online-ever-safe/">a teaching moment</a>. </p>
<h2>The blame or shame game</h2>
<p>When the AshleyMadison.com user database (with names, addresses, phone numbers and credit card information) was hacked and then <a href="http://www.wired.com/2015/08/happened-hackers-posted-stolen-ashley-madison-data/">distributed</a> through file-sharing services, the hackers <a href="http://motherboard.vice.com/read/ashley-madison-hackers-speak-out-nobody-was-watching">claiming responsibility</a> for taking the data and <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2015/05/22/risky-business-for-ashleymadison-com/">releasing</a> them stated they did so to criticize not only the lack of security, but also the lack of credibility of a website that promised discretion but profited from hefty but <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2015/07/organizational.html">deceptive profile-deletion fees</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93227/original/image-20150827-372-6u0loi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=619&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Warnings are being made about public shaming and possible extortion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelampnyc/4400190644/in/photolist-7GQ8nW-7GQ8oL-7GLbYt-6vD3bG-dAPegg-5FWrVU-nvtve-BxSkW-dMiBYN-5vKEoq-4UWtTb-4FmeLf-cjGsYS-4EmCGP-4c1juF-3ED4vM-4YTLy2-cfm5D1-5W3HQp-2p2ynh-5ngEau-9qt4VB-8idtba-997uAg-E8L1T-61DxdD-nNCo4-3PkaSc-fNk7Cf-ia9UzB-8idtbT-voERMo-uJnQNr-99ti3r-9dAgG4-s3P5YT-9ZeATK-uyg8f-voF4oG-9fpXJ3-vEEyiy-76BxE-7oR5p-uJnF1a-6D94es-4sj8qL-vCX6Ws-bp6yh-voFcPC-rUq3zS">The LAMP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In 2014 alone, the company netted <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-04-15/adultery-website-ashleymadison-seeks-ipo-as-demand-booms">US$1.7 million in fees</a> for a “full delete” of user profiles (at $19 each). Several users <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/21/ashley-madison-hack-five-people-database-experience?CMP=twt_a-technology_b-gdntech">anonymously confirmed</a> that their payment information, address and other identifying data were in the files, despite assurances from AshleyMadison.com that they had been deleted or not kept in the first place.</p>
<p>Some observers have gleefully outed AshleyMadison.com users who are conservative <a href="http://gawker.com/family-values-activist-josh-duggar-had-a-paid-ashley-ma-1725132091">defenders of family values</a>, while others worry about <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/ashley-madison-hack-leaking-personal-email-addresses-puts-gay-lives-at-risk-around-the-world-10464546.html">adverse consequences</a> for people suspected of adultery or homosexuality in places where that is unlawful. </p>
<p>Jokes about divorce lawyers are bandied about, and warnings against wholesale public shaming are made. Brian Krebs, the investigative journalist who first broke the story on July 15 that AshleyMadison.com had been hacked, has <a href="http://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/extortionists-target-ashley-madison-users/">warned</a> that it might lead to blackmail.</p>
<p>Since about 15,000 addresses in the <a href="http://pastebin.com/U4QQEaBE">database</a> are .mil or .gov (among them 6,788 in the US Army, 1,665 in the US Navy, 809 US Marines and 127 in the US Air Force), it is not surprising that the <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/251581-pentagon-looking-into-ashley-madison-leak-of-military-emails">Department of Defense</a> is combing through to see whether it needs to fend off blackmail. Surely some <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/22/technology/ashley-madison-hack-government-workers/index.html">government employees</a> are facing discipline.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/22/ashley-madison-adultery-hacking-technology-blackmail?CMP=twt_a-technology_b-gdntech">Guardian suggested</a> worrying about possible extortion of bankers, and <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/21/hack-ashley-madison-website-affairs-reveals-many-edu-addresses">Inside Higher Ed ran a column</a> revealing that there are numerous .edu email addresses in the leaked database.</p>
<h2>Address verification</h2>
<p>Claims that AshleyMadison.com did not validate emails on sign-up led to speculation that just because someone is listed does not mean they actually were users of the site – someone else could have used their name and email address. </p>
<p>However, the database lists a field for valid/invalid email address checks, and while among the registered users there are 12,358,191 whose email field reads “isvalid = 0,” there are also 24,039,705 email addresses marked as “isvalid = 1.” </p>
<p>Therefore, millions of people will not be able to use as their excuse that someone else might have used their name and email to sign up. While <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/251431-ashley-madison-leak-appears-real-includes-thousands-of-government-emails">The Hill</a> has pointed out that some email addresses that might look like government ones are clearly fake, others are not: “several emails were registered at <a href="http://whitehouse.gov/">whitehouse.gov</a>, whereas White House officials use <a href="http://eop.gov/">eop.gov</a> for email communications.”</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=780&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/93229/original/image-20150827-364-aywx5h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=980&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Do those working in higher ed have a greater obligation?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/thelampnyc/4399422291/in/photolist-7GLbYt-6vD3bG-dAPegg-5FWrVU-nvtve-BxSkW-dMiBYN-5vKEoq-4UWtTb-4FmeLf-cjGsYS-4EmCGP-4c1juF-3ED4vM-4YTLy2-cfm5D1-5W3HQp-2p2ynh-5ngEau-9qt4VB-8idtba-997uAg-E8L1T-61DxdD-nNCo4-3PkaSc-fNk7Cf-ia9UzB-8idtbT-voERMo-uJnQNr-99ti3r-9dAgG4-s3P5YT-9ZeATK-uyg8f-voF4oG-9fpXJ3-vEEyiy-76BxE-7oR5p-uJnF1a-6D94es-4sj8qL-vCX6Ws-bp6yh-voFcPC-rUq3zS-9pPy3e-7oswtG">The LAMP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is possible that many people merely signed in with their email address out of curiosity and never went much further – but for those there would be no payment information, phone numbers and addresses on file. Yet the database shows that more than 173 million credit cards had been used to pay for the site’s services in 2014.</p>
<h2>A teaching moment</h2>
<p>Inside Higher Ed shows a <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/08/21/hack-ashley-madison-website-affairs-reveals-many-edu-addresses">table with the top 10 most represented institutions</a>, led by Michigan State, Penn State and Kent State. Students and alumni are likely to have other primary email addresses, and a majority of students are probably not yet married and looking for an extramarital affair on AshleyMadison.com.</p>
<p>It is safe to assume that a significant proportion of those .edu email users Inside Higher Ed found in the AshleyMadison.com database are those of current or former college or university employees. </p>
<p>If they chose to use their .edu addresses instead of alternatives, what does that show about their awareness of privacy online, about their critical evaluation of information technology? </p>
<p>I won’t argue that people in higher education should conduct their lives according a higher ethical or moral standard than those in the military or in government service, although some educators might want to set an example for values they profess.</p>
<p>But I do think people in higher education do have a greater obligation to value the integrity and security of data. Of course, colleges and universities deal in information, but precisely not for shameless commerce – they deal in information for the greater good of the communities they serve. </p>
<p>Academia depends on verifiable information, and one of the fundamental values of academia is that we share important insights. One of those is that privacy is under siege online, and we need to do better with our passwords, with our social technologies, with our control over personal information.</p>
<p>Education, putting our hard-earned knowledge to use, must act as the opposite of the shameless commerce of AshleyMadison.com and its ilk – reconstituting in the individual affect the public virtue for which it substitutes.</p>
<p>Czech writer Milan Kundera urged:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When it becomes the custom and the rule to divulge another person’s private life, we are entering a time when the highest stake is the survival or the disappearance of the individual.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But he was writing about surveillance-riddled totalitarian Czechoslovakia in 1975, not about the United States in 2015.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/46589/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Krapp does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
In the Ashley Madison hack were reports of 74,468 unique “.edu” email addresses. If people chose to use their .edu addresses, what does that tell us about awareness of privacy online?
Peter Krapp, Professor of Film & Media Studies, University of California, Irvine
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/43701
2015-06-23T06:44:46Z
2015-06-23T06:44:46Z
There are better ways to combat piracy than blocking websites
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/86046/original/image-20150623-19411-nmmrv4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=173%2C0%2C706%2C482&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">BitTorrent site Pirate Bay is one of those often targeted in anti-piracy legislation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/125207874@N04/14363252187/in/photolist-nTeqt6-bUqRHK-99WwHr-h9mG5r-98gEpM-4pqiwa-9abrM1-bVVmTG-99Ww4k-brSWqk-99ZEKq-99ZDfh-99Ww5K-99Wwan-99ZEGb-99WxEv-99WxyX-98jQ2h-98jPYQ-98gF2F-riofPL-98gF9V-98jQ3y-98jQ6J-98jPUG-99WwcX-98jPMb-98jPVy-98gEZH-99ZEvb-99ZDxY-99ZECf-98jPK3-98jPsN-99Wxhv-99Wxsa-98gEQ8-99Wxun-99ZEtq-99WxeH-99WweM-99WxiZ-99ZDk3-99WwjV-99WwGc-99Wx5c-98jPjC-5XAPJt-8pcRkU-98jP77">Bhupinder Nayyar/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Senate <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/australian-senate-passes-controversial-antipiracy-websiteblocking-laws-20150622-ghuorh.html">passed</a> controversial anti-piracy legislation, the <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fems%2Fr5446_ems_1599ec23-c036-4dee-9562-a8a2e4d3d6fe%22">Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015</a>, last night. But it’s not so clear whether the legislation will actually achieve its stated ends of reducing piracy, and it might be easily circumvented by the public. </p>
<p>Arguably, the media industry can do more to prevent piracy by making content more easily accessible rather than quixotic efforts to block it using legislation.</p>
<p>Despite the bill being passed in both the House of Representatives and Senate, Labour MP Ed Husic and Greens Senator Scott Ludlam have spoken publicly about <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/i-dont-like-it-labor-mp-ed-husic-hits-out-at-unfair-antipiracy-websiteblocking-bill-20150618-ghrk0d.html">their concerns</a> about the legislation. </p>
<p>Husic argued that the bill “favours the interests of rights holders over consumers” and “doesn’t actually deal with the way of getting that content to people in much more efficient means”. Ludlam echoed this, stating: “This is what happens when you get a government that only listens to one side of the argument – the public interest gets left in the dust.”</p>
<p>The legislation is an attempt by the government to curb piracy in Australia. It was backed by industry groups such as the <a href="http://goo.gl/xNvYFW">Australian Film and Television industries</a>. Brett Cottle, from the Australasian Performing Rights Association (<a href="http://apraamcos.com.au/">APRA AMCOS</a>), has <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-01/music-film-and-tv-industries-present-united-front-at-senate-/6437888">argued</a> that the industry had been “bled dry” by piracy.</p>
<p>This issue gained prominence after the <a href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/235041743/Copyright">Online Copyright Infringement Discussion Paper</a> was leaked by <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2014/07/25/government-flags-copyright-crackdown-to-overturn-iinet-decision/">Crikey</a> last year. More recently, the ongoing legal case involving the <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-not-clear-who-won-in-the-dallas-buyers-club-llc-court-case-and-was-it-moot-39833">Dallas Buyers Club</a> and iiNet has again <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-much-will-australias-dallas-buyers-club-pirates-have-to-pay-40302">raised questions</a> of piracy in Australia.</p>
<h2>But does the new law solve more problems than it creates?</h2>
<p>The intention is to curb online piracy, particularly of music, television and films. This is an area in which Australia has become a <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">leader</a>. But the legislation curbs piracy at what costs to consusmers? </p>
<p>The proposed annual estimated cost to carriage service provider (CSPs) of A$130,825 for implementing the law’s requirements will arguably be passed onto consumers through the pricing of internet services.</p>
<p>There are also question around the <a href="http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/562252/copyright-clampdown-scheme-block-pirate-websites-open-abuse/">abuse of such powers</a> and the content that the legislation could block. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-rimmer-4398">Matthew Rimmer</a>, intellectual property academic, has raised concerns about how this could be “abused in a variety of different ways in terms of engaging in censorship or trying to engage in rent seeking”. He suggests that sites like Wikileaks could fall foul of these laws.</p>
<p>Even if a site is blocked, Australians might bypass the restriction by many means. One is already used by many Australians: <a href="https://theconversation.com/unlocking-the-geoblock-australians-embrace-vpns-32373">Virtual Private Network (VPN) geo-blockers</a>. These hide the user’s geographic location, thus bypassing any regional blocks. </p>
<p>More than <a href="https://theconversation.com/unlocking-the-geoblock-australians-embrace-vpns-32373">200,000 Australians</a> have already used services such as these to access Netflix prior to the company’s launch in Australia. Mumbrella <a href="http://mumbrella.com.au/astra-predicts-piracy-traffic-could-halve-following-new-laws-despite-concern-over-vpn-loophole-301318">reported recently</a> that more than 680,000 Australian households use this technology to access video content, not all for piracy.</p>
<p>But the media industry has a different perspective on the use of such technologies. In the Mumbrella article, Andrew Maiden, Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association (<a href="http://www.astra.org.au/">ASTRA</a>) chief executive, compared the use of VPNs to “getting around that a supermarket has a faulty checkout where you can take goods out without paying for them”. He added that just because it’s possible to circumvent a law, that doesn’t make it right to do so.</p>
<h2>Does it actually work?</h2>
<p>Australian media organisations argue they are doing their bit to combat piracy by making content legally available. In a Copyright Act inquiry earlier this year Foxtel’s Bruce Meagher <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-01/music-film-and-tv-industries-present-united-front-at-senate-/6437888">argued</a> that the company was doing its bit by releasing content at the same time it was released in the US and at a competitive price.</p>
<p>What is not considered here is that Foxtel has a relatively small penetration rate in the Australian market, at only <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/04/foxtel-halves-price-basic-pay-tv-package">30%</a>. This is far less than the pay-TV penetration in the <a href="http://www.marketingcharts.com/television/us-pay-tv-penetration-2010-2014-45625/">US</a> (84%) and UK (50%). So even if Foxtel releases content sooner, most Australians still don’t have access to it unless they sign up for a pay TV account, which might include many channels and programs they’re not interested in.</p>
<p>However, during the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-01/music-film-and-tv-industries-present-united-front-at-senate-/6437888">Copyright Act inquiry</a>, Christopher Chard from Village Roadshow Films noted that traffic from the UK to a piracy site diminished significantly once the site was blocked in that country. This is despite some people in the UK using VPNs to still access that site.</p>
<p>In the UK more than 100 websites <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-blocking-more-than-100-pirate-sites-after-new-court-order-150324/">have been blocked</a> since similar legislation was introduced in 2012. A <a href="http://www.incopro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Site-Blocking-Efficacy-UK-revised-19-03-2015.pdf">report</a> by <a href="http://www.incopro.co.uk/">Incorpro</a> found a 73.2% decrease in traffic after the introduction of site blocking in the UK However, the report also found a boost in traffic to other sites that hosted pirated material. There are also some <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/uk-site-blocking-gives-boost-to-pirate-linking-sites-150102/">questions</a> about the methodology of the report, and whether it accurately tracks traffic to blocked sites, particularly over VPN.</p>
<p>On the other hand, there is evidence of piracy decreasing when content is made available to the consumer legally. For example, there is <a href="http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2015/04/26/how-hbo-and-netflix-inc-are-fighting-piracy.aspx">evidence of a decline in piracy</a> when Netflix enters a particular region. </p>
<p>Netflix arrived in Australia this year. Given that <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">many of the programs</a> acquired illegally by Australians include many of those available on Netflix, one might expect piracy rates here to decline as well.</p>
<h2>Who should change to fight piracy?</h2>
<p>This year Fremantle Media <a href="http://variety.com/2014/digital/news/fremantlemedia-claims-user-uploaded-youtube-clips-with-broadbandtv-1201161590/">announced</a> that it will no longer be removing any pirated clips of American Idol. Instead it has found a way to profit from those fan-uploaded YouTube clips of its program.</p>
<p>According to Variety, the company has partnered with BroadbandTV to identify and manage user-uploaded content on YouTube for more than 200 shows, including American Idol, The Price Is Right, America’s Got Talent, Baywatch and The X Factor.</p>
<p>Olivier Delfosse, COO of Fremantle Media, stated that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When we see a fan of our show who has gone through the hassle of uploading (content from) it, it’s not an indication of them stealing from us – we see it as fan loyalty […] It doesn’t matter if we upload the official clip or a user does – the value to the advertiser is the same.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Is legislation that blocks so-called piracy sites really the solution to the problem associated with online piracy? It doesn’t solve the most common issue raised by Australians: legal and fairly priced access to the content they want to watch. </p>
<p>Ultimately, it’s more likely that solutions such as those offered by Fremantle Media and Netflix, and a re-thinking of media companies’ business models, will eliminate piracy rather than heavy-handed top-down legislation, which is also relatively trivial to bypass.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/43701/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station).</span></em></p>
The government’s new anti-piracy bill is not the best solution to online piracy. What really works is easily accessible and affordable legal means to acquire the latest content.
Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Digital Media, Victoria University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/40302
2015-04-19T20:07:02Z
2015-04-19T20:07:02Z
How much will Australia’s Dallas Buyers Club pirates have to pay?
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/78333/original/image-20150417-20770-cuggyk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australians who illegally downloaded Dallas Buyers Club could soon be receiving letters asking for payment.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Anne Marie Fox/Focus Features</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly 5,000 Australians are expected to receive letters in the near future asking them some pointed questions about their online downloading habits, specifically relating to the film <a href="https://theconversation.com/it-is-not-clear-who-won-in-the-dallas-buyers-club-llc-court-case-and-was-it-moot-39833">Dallas Buyers Club</a>. </p>
<p>What might these letters contain? Will they make threatening advances in the hope for a large settlement, as has happened in the United States? Or will they take a softer line, seeking smaller sums? </p>
<p>We don’t yet know what the letters might contain, but by looking at recent events in digital piracy, and how various copyright holders have responded, we might pick up a few clues.</p>
<h2>Flashpoint</h2>
<p>The recent <a href="http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2015/2015fca0317">legal battle</a> between Dallas Buyers Club LLC and multiple Australian ISPs – iiNet, Internode, Amnet Broadband, Dodo, Adam Internet and Wideband Networks, although excluding Telstra, Optus and TPG – has raised numerous questions. </p>
<p>How will this decision <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">impact Australian piracy levels</a>? What will be the repercussions for those who have allegedly illegally shared the film? And how could this impact changes to <a href="http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/copyright.pdf">Australian copyright law</a> more broadly?</p>
<p>The decision made in regards to Dallas Buyers Club will see the ISPs provide the identities of 4,726 Australians to the film’s production company. The first respondent in the case, iiNet, has confirmed it <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/iinet-m2-group-wont-appeal-dallas-buyers-club-decision-20150415-1mkwkx.html">will not appeal</a>. </p>
<p>This was a case that iiNet has admitted it would have not won, but <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/iinet-m2-group-wont-appeal-dallas-buyers-club-decision-20150415-1mkwkx.html">noting</a> it “spent good money to make sure [Dallas Buyers Club LLC] weren’t allowed to use the information for what we considered purposes not in our customers’ interest”.</p>
<p>The legalities of downloading content without paying are <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/downloading-movies-and-tv-is-not-a-crime-20141209-11uyie.html">continually being debated</a>, even after the verdict was handed down. Arguably, this is just the starting point, with so many factors to be considered in conjunction with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/netflix-arrival-will-be-a-tipping-point-for-tv-in-australia-38386">changing Australian media lanscape</a> in 2015.</p>
<h2>Approaches abroad</h2>
<p>So how much should someone pay if they’re found guilty of illegally downloading a copyrighted movie?</p>
<p>Dallas Buyers Club LLC has already tried a variety of approaches to get pirates to pay in different countries. In the US it <a href="http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/what-to-do-if-you-receive-a-letter-from-dallas-buyers-club-llc/story-fnjwneld-1227295177465">sent letters</a> to those who allegedly downloaded the film attempting to glean around US$7,000 (A$9,000) from them. This technique is known as speculative invoicing, and is viewed by many to be a “<a href="http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/speculative-invoicing-downloads-bullying-tactic/2600827/">bullying tactic</a>”. </p>
<p>The use of speculative invoicing was a concern for iiNet during the Dallas Buyers Club case. Chief Regulatory Officer Steve Dalby <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/dallas-buyers-club-movie-makers-hunt-illegal-aussie-downloaders-20141023-11a9qq.html#ixzz3XNEdWIHn">stated late last year</a> that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[…] we have serious concerns about Dallas Buyers Club’s intentions. We are concerned that our customers will be unfairly targeted to settle any claims out of court using a practice called ‘speculative invoicing’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>An Australian who moved to Colorado, has claimed that <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/australia/comments/322ns8/i_was_sued_over_dallas_buyers_club/">he was sued</a> by the Dallas Buyers Club LLC, in 2013 while living in the US. In the letter sent directly from his ISP, he was informed that “he had been sued and subpoenaed by Dallas Buyers Club LLC”. He was requested to pay representation and settlement costs totalling well over US$5,000 (A$6,430). After numerous discussions it is claimed the case was settled out of court for US$500 (A$643).</p>
<p>Dallas Buyers Club LLC took a somewhat different tack in Singapore – a country with the highest rates of peer-to-peer infringement of English language TV shows per capita. The company recently <a href="http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/peer-sharing-affects-livelihoods-film-makers">sent letters</a> that “ask for a written offer of damages and costs within three days of receipt”. The letters were sent to 77 M1 subscribers, with further letters to be sent to Singtel and StarHub customers.</p>
<p>In New Zealand, the process for notification of internet piracy is a “<a href="http://media.crikey.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/copyright.pdf">graduated response scheme</a>”. The process requires the copyright holder to notify the ISP, who then forwards the information to the account holder. After the third notification the rights holder can seek compensation for up to NZ$15,000.</p>
<h2>What might Australians pay?</h2>
<p>So what could happen in Australia? Dallas Buyers Club LLC is targeting nearly <a href="http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/peer-sharing-affects-livelihoods-film-makers?page=1">five times</a> as many potential copyright violators here than in the US.</p>
<p>Michael Wickstrom, the Vice President of Royalties at Dallas Buyers Club‘s parent company, Voltage Pictures, <a href="http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/04/you-might-not-get-fined-for-downloading-dallas-buyers-club/">has said</a> that “we are working with our Australian attorneys to come up to an Australian solution to an Australian problem. What works in the US may not work […] in Australia. But we are developing a system that becomes a deterrent”. What that will be is yet to been seen.</p>
<p>The first point that needs to be made in regards to the Dallas Buyers Club case in Australia, is that the Federal Court will <a href="http://https://accan.org.au/news-items/hot-issues/1037-online-piracy-speculative-invoicing">review all letters</a> prior to them being sent. This will minimise the possibility of harsh speculative invoicing, which was one of iiNet’s reservations. </p>
<p>According to the reports and expert views, Dallas Buyers Club LLC will likely ask for lower amounts from Australians than in the US. Mark Vincent, an IP Lawyer, argues that what we are likely to see is “<a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/internet-pirates-might-pay-only-20-compensation-each-to-dallas-buyers-club-20150411-1mgx2e.html">order damages</a>” for the cost of legally obtaining the film – which would be about A$20. </p>
<p>However, Tom Godfrey from <a href="https://www.choice.com.au">CHOICE</a> believes that what Dallas Buyers Club LLC and consumers see as a fair costs could vary considerably. In addition to the cost for obtaining the film, Dallas Buyers Club LLC may also <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/digital-life-news/dallas-buyers-club-tells-downloaders-to-name-price-for-pirating-their-film-20150415-1mlapg.html">argue that</a> “it should include the costs of their application for preliminary discovery, and the costs associated with sending the letter”.</p>
<h2>Waiting game</h2>
<p>It will now be a waiting game for those Australians who may receive one of these letters from Dallas Buyers Club LLC. What is clear is the amount requested is likely to be far less than the US$5,000 requested in the US. </p>
<p>While there has also been <a href="http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/peer-sharing-affects-livelihoods-film-makers">confirmation</a> of replies and acceptance of offers in the more recent Singaporean case, the figures have not been disclosed. Therefore a comparison can not be applied.</p>
<p>This raises another issue when it comes to piracy. In the discussion that is likely to take place between rights holders and the government, one key stakeholder is not being included: the consumers.</p>
<p>Suing “mums and dads and students” should not be the path rights holders undertake. We have seen this year in a Australia a change in the access and cost of media content, specially film and television, thanks to new <a href="https://theconversation.com/netflix-arrival-will-be-a-tipping-point-for-tv-in-australia-38386">video-on-demand services</a>. </p>
<p>Once established, these new services will give a clear indication whether the <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-convicts-to-pirates-australias-dubious-legacy-of-illegal-downloading-39912">reasons given by Australians</a> for illegally downloading content, access and costs, were in fact correct.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40302/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marc C-Scott is a board member of C31 Melbourne (Community Television Station).</span></em></p>
How much might Australians caught illegally downloading Dallas Buyers Club be charged for their indescretion?
Marc C-Scott, Lecturer in Digital Media, Victoria University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/40173
2015-04-15T05:20:42Z
2015-04-15T05:20:42Z
Game of Thrones pirates offer a useful lesson in TV money making
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77905/original/image-20150414-24627-m74wev.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Game of Thrones new season: There will be fireworks.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/epicfireworks/8716190923/in/photolist-dgMM9V-eBYBxw-eBVtok-ehdKTR-faFVBy-eaFkxE-eazGka-fFPJju-eY1vfz-oT1m4g-pCtMHt-fb6vus-eazGiK-eaFkDh-eazGpa-eazGoR-oRfbdd-oWeLBm-oWeKLd-maksBR-s5KpuH-rN9Tam-fkcnez-e3Mh6t-nd5BCr-eBYD1Y-eRLCyL-oD4HQ8-eb4JYB-bAgXPm-bAgYcC-bAgWsw-bAgZKQ-bPbEng-bPbDzx-bAgWVG-bAh4F3-bPbCJP-bAgYZq-bPbC2v-bAh2qj-bAh1A7-bPbAQx-bCZoEC-e3Qykt-e3Wd1w-e3Qz3n-bCZoof-bRU7yV-bCZosu">Epic Fireworks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>HBO’s Game of Thrones simultaneously holds the record for being the most expensive (<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/game-thrones-big-budgets-bring-huge-success-how-hbo-series-makes-money-high-cost-episode-1658966">grossing an average of $6m per episode</a>), most successful (<a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/game-thrones-rivals-walking-dead-709041">with 18m weekly viewers in the last season</a>) and yet also the most pirated TV series in history. Episodes from the first four seasons were downloaded more than 7m times worldwide <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102579774">from Feb 5-April 6 2015, with a 45% increase from 2014</a>.</p>
<p>Last weekend, the first four episodes from the new (fifth) GoT season <a href="http://irdeto.com/news-and-events/illegal-downloads-of-game-of-thrones-episodes-increase-more-than-45-percent-year-over-year-in-the-final-weeks-before-season-5-premiere.html">appeared on BitTorrent sites</a>. In the 24 hours that followed, the pirated episodes were downloaded well over a million times worldwide, jeopardising HBO’s planning for an international online premiere that would have covered 170 countries worldwide.</p>
<p>British internet users have downloaded more pirate copies of the new season of GoT than viewers from anywhere else in the world. The UK led the piracy ranking with 9.8% of IP addresses sharing the content based in Britain, followed by the US with 9.1%, India 7.8%, Canada 5.4% and France 4.2% (as per <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/leaked-game-of-thrones-episodes-trigger-piracy-craze-150412/">Torrentfreak</a> data). Looking at this recent case, GoT can be seen not only as a gothic <a href="https://theconversation.com/game-theory-of-thrones-how-strategy-might-decide-who-rules-westeros-39963">metaphor of military and governance strategy</a>, but also a timely case to reflect on some compelling lessons for business models and firm strategy.</p>
<h2>Throne to the lions?</h2>
<p>First, HBO’s GoT represents a new successful way of combining high-quality entertainment products with successful pay-per-view business models. In common with <a href="https://theconversation.com/tvs-inevitable-cable-divorce-will-offer-consumers-a-confusing-abundance-of-video-riches-39099">Netflix and Hulu</a>, HBO offers a pay-per-view streaming service for movie-like, quality TV series without requiring a cable subscription to its users. </p>
<p>The series is globally distributed through exclusive deals with broadcasters such as Sky Atlantic in the UK. This is a relatively new and successful business model that is gaining traction in the entertainment industry but also bringing along some relevant threats. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=189&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77903/original/image-20150414-24627-t5mcdr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=238&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Even better than the real thing?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paperpariah/17044739072/in/photolist-ouNYXM-odjcau-rYbK6A-njzwE4">Adam Foster</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<p>As a matter of fact, success in these and similar business models is often correlated with (mostly online) piracy. In other words it is sensible to expect that the best products (in this case TV series) will be also facing the greatest piracy threats. <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/102579774">Other examples among the most watched</a> and pirated series include The Walking Dead (5.7m downloads between Feb 5-April 6); Breaking Bad (3.8m); Vikings (3.4m); and House of Cards (2.7m).</p>
<h2>Working in Concert</h2>
<p>Despite consistent efforts, both technology and <a href="https://theconversation.com/brandis-leaked-anti-piracy-proposal-is-unrealistic-29709">legislation have to date fallen</a> short in securing intellectual property rights against the threat of piracy. As a result, companies in this market have no other solution than taking piracy into account as part of their business models and their related revenue streams – particularly when products are successful. This translates into finding alternative ways of monetisation in order to counterbalance the losses from piracy activities.</p>
<p>Solutions are neither easy to find nor implement, but past experiences in similar industries can provide some guidance. The <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-piracy-is-changing-the-music-industry-landscape-31919">music industry</a>, for example, started to seriously reflect on how to redefine its business model after the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/feb/24/napster-music-free-file-sharing">“Napster effect”</a> that hit the industry sales in late 1999, and continued in other forms despite countermeasures against the renowned piracy pioneer and some of its followers.</p>
<p>In recent years, the music industry fought mp3 piracy by revamping how artists engage with fans. We got grandiose concerts, long international tours laden with special effects and the creation of experiences which have relaunched interest – among purchasers and online pirates alike – in live shows. </p>
<p>In turn, this has allowed the organisers to increase the average price for the tickets without harming attendance. Other business models have included royalties from streaming services such as Spotify, which offer users an almost unlimited access to contents for a modest monthly fee.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/77907/original/image-20150414-24635-xa2ap1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">U2 rewards paying punters with elaborate set design.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/fromthenorth/3781818037/in/photolist-6JxykR-6LbNKg-6LfMWA-6LbvaH-8e6ffX-6Rwnry-6RsiY2-6Rwnzo-6RwnCU-6Q7Axo-5vyjed-6RJniK-64A1Dg-63Taf8-6SGKXq-63SUq4-6SCGYg-6KiPMP-6K58St-bXD3X-8e9wVb-6LfVmA-6Q7nt1-6MrB9L-6LfLDq-6JUi71-8u2nVo-k4w8oH-63XhHQ-6RNpmb-75FUZF-6hTaf-71rwzb-6aUxuA-8ucVy1-6ATsKy-64A1qR-yZfMY-6Q35mz-cy3Mi-8W5XVY-63Xaj5-cy3Mx-9wqHSw-6Q3eti-Lxknd-9rqyf6-8JMTH6-3vd1zE-8JR2zy">FromTheNorth</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
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<p>The TV and movie industries might be going in the same direction with exhibitions, events and other sources of monetization. For example GoT has recently launched a <a href="https://www.gotexhibit.com/">touring exhibition</a> where objects and costumes from the series were displayed for fans. Everyone is allowed in, but perhaps as a way to thank the supporters who did not indulge in the temptation of piracy, the entrance was kept free for visitors who could prove a subscription to Sky Atlantic. </p>
<p>Also, actors, authors and directors have been leaving their VIP areas and increasingly joining public appearances where interaction with the fans was promoted, as well as a series of commercial and marketing activities such as gadgets sales and discounted pay-per-view subscriptions. GoT has even got into the, presumably lucrative, <a href="https://www.hboshopeu.com/en/gb/shows/detailview/game-of-thrones-dragon-egg-winestoppers.html">market for mythically themed wine-stoppers</a>.</p>
<p>All in all, it seems that a viable response to counterbalance the threat of revenue losses due to piracy might be setting up portfolios of business models that combine different types of monetisation and bring the entertainment experience “offline” or “off-the-screen”. In the end, live experiences are still one of the few things that cannot be perfectly reduced to a file, compressed, and shared over the internet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/40173/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paolo Aversa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The new season of Game of Thrones signals entertainment companies are getting used to the idea that piracy comes with success. The trick is to loosen fans’ wallets a little down the line.
Paolo Aversa, Lecturer in Strategy, City, University of London
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.