Policing of Movie and Music Piracy

Abstract

Ongoing skirmishes between mainstream Hollywood entertainment conglomerates and Peer-to-Peer (P2P) file-sharing networks recently reached a crescendo when a Swedish court convicted members of the world’s largest BitTorrent, The Pirate Bay, and handed out the stiffest sentence to date.1 Four operators of The Pirate Bay received one year imprisonments and fines totaling $30 million, including confiscation of equipment. While this verdict sent shockwaves amongst P2P networks, piracy remains rampant, and this incident further exacerbated relations between file sharers and Hollywood. In retaliation, supporters of P2P file-sharing attacked websites of the law firms representing the Hollywood studios (Johnson, 2009). This victory by Hollywood studios may be a Pyrrhic defeat in the long run if the studios do not soften their antagonistic relations with the public. This chapter explores structural and cultural conflicts amongst security actors that make fighting piracy extremely difficult. In addition, it considers the role of law enforcement, government, industries, and the general public in creating long-term security models.