The Copyright Alert System is Working

copyright intellectual property piracy piratingGeorge Landrith, President of Frontiers of Freedom, made the following statement on May 28, 2014 about the Copyright Alert System:

“The Copyright Alert System (CAS) is a voluntary initiative between leading Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and copyright holders designed to reduce pirating of digital material — often music, movies and shows. The CAS uses a progressive series of six graduated notifications aimed at educating consumers when unlawful pirating appears to be occurring on their servers or accounts. The good news is that this voluntary effort is working. [Read more…]

Internet Piracy Sites are Stealing Copyrighted Content and Ad Revenue

Intellectual Propery Piracy

by George Landrith 

Internet piracy has become a big business. It has also become more sophisticated in the way it steals. Rather than selling the music and movies of others, often they provide it for free and use the increased internet traffic to obtain surprising advertising revenues. This allows the pirate to claim he isn’t selling anything. But he makes a handsome profit stealing the property of others — movies, music, books, etc. According to a recent study by the Digital Citizens Alliance (DCA), in 2013, these piracy sites reaped an estimated quarter billion — with a B — dollars in advertising revenue. Even small piracy sites can pull in over $100,000 a year in advertising revenue and it is almost all profit.

Some might think that this is great news — free music and movies for everyone! But the truth is this theft harms everyone. Everyone you ask? Yes! Everyone, except maybe the pirate. [Read more…]