User:Eleanorg/1.2/RWR/Annotation: Types of Copyright Theft

Annotation

"Types of content theft", MPAA

http://www.mpaa.org/contentprotection/types-of-content-theft

This one-page text, linked prominently on the MPAA's website, outlines the various categories of 'content theft'. A total of nine different types are detailed, with the techniques used in each case and the negative consequences attached to each one. Presumably written for a general audience, the text attempts to spell out the economic damage done by 'content theft' and to discourage indulgence by underlining the risks attached to each type of theft. A sense of didactic anxiety runs through the text, with shrill sentences such as "all it takes is one camcorder copy to trigger the mass reproduction and distribution of millions of illegal Internet downloads and bootlegs...", and, "if you download movies using illegal peer-to-peer sites, you are often also distributing illegal content... to other peers in the group, who in turn distribute the files to yet others."

The text paints a picture of a monstrous, spawning network ("all it takes is one..."; "...to yet others") which users are warned not to get caught up in. The P2P user, for example, is assumed to be innocently hoodwinked by a system in which they would not willingly participate: "While people may believe their files are being exchanged among only a few "friends", these files can be accessed by millions of people around the world...".

As the text fails to explain why this would be a problem for anyone except rights holders, it invokes the discourse of vulnerability to infection to discourage participation: "you are... potentially exposing your computer and private information to strangers. By allowing strangers to access files on your computer, other sensitive information, such as bank records, social security numbers and pictures, could also become accessible and put you and your family at risk of identity theft or worse". Here, the 'stranger' is construed as a potential intruder, with abstainence, rather than better security, assumed to be the best protection.