Online Piracy Is Digital Looting, and It Needs to Stop

The global pandemic has provided an opportunity to see the best in society: the doctors and nurses who are risking their lives to care for patients; the teachers who are working tirelessly to educate students remotely; and the many volunteers who have sewn masks to help stop the spread of the virus. For the rest of us, doing the right thing and staying at home has inevitably led to more time streaming our favorite shows and movies to provide much-needed respite from the dumpster fire that is 2020. Unfortunately, as Nigel Cory and Daniel Castro write for Inside Sources, some people are exploiting this tragedy for their own gain.

While there are many laws to deal with nefarious sellers engaged in price gouging or touting miracle cures, those who are systematically engaging in digital piracy for profit—stealing untold millions worth of movies, TV shows, music, eBooks and more—have largely gotten a free pass, making money off other people’s hard work, even as many in the entertainment industry remain unemployed. Online piracy is nothing more than digital looting, and it is high time policymakers crack down on this abhorrent behavior, especially if we want new content to keep us entertained when life returns to normal.