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Martinez, Enzo

Period. 5

Contemporary Comp.

January 30, 2018

Mr. Rivas

GPO: CI, RP

Online Robbery

Have you ever wondered if people should be prosecuted for online piracy? This question

is very debatable because some might say they should but some might say no. I believe that

people should be prosecuted because lots of jobs are loss and there is a decrease in the economy.

Also it’s a crime if you download illegal music or movies. Lots of people are putting at risk

copyright industries and people who are employed there. Online piracy also affects celebrities,

directors, etc. They aren’t earning enough money as they used to because no one buys there

movies or shows anymore. When people are prosecuted they might stop with illegally

downloading music or movies.

The first reason is that lots of people lose their job because of online piracy. Famous

people like celebrities and directors lose their money because people aren’t buying their product

anymore. One example, in the music industry it costs thousands of dollars to produce albums. So

people shouldn’t download their music illegally because the artists who produced the album

won’t get enough money. You are basically robbing from the artist because you aren’t buying
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their album. This is wrong and a crime so people should be prosecuted. According to CNN,

“Illegal counterfeiting and piracy costs the U.S. economy $100 billion and thousands of jobs

every year.” This shows how terrible online piracy can be to the U.S. economy.

The second reason why online piracy is a bad thing is because it decreases the economy.

According to Music Business Worldwide, “One credible analysis by the Institute for Policy

Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every

year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers’ earnings, and a loss of $422 million

in tax revenues, $291 million in personal income tax and $131 million in lost corporate income

and production taxes.” This how much online piracy can be a big impact in our economy. If we

try to stop those people we might be able to save money and have more money to help our

economy. If we lower the rate of people doing online piracy and put them to prison we would

have more jobs and more workers.

The third reason is that illegal streaming may be favorable, but at the end of the day, it is

still illegal. Some people might think that it’s fine because you’re doing it online but it’s still a

crime. According to The Star Online, “With over 20.3 billion visits to pirate sites, the United

States ranks first in online piracy, with Russia (14.1 billion) and India (9.7 ​billion) trailing

behind.” This shows how our country is in a bad place right now. This all leads to a low

economy and loss in jobs. We need to start thinking about our future and stop online piracy. It

can harm our future and the U.S. government.

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In closing, I believe that people should get prosecuted for online piracy. There are lots of

bad things that it causes like loss of jobs, and a decrease in the economy. It’s also illegal so

people need to get sued for doing something illegal. But if it’s not that bad they should at least go

to jail in order to learn their lesson that online piracy is a bad thing to do.
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Works Cited

“Source 1: Info Sheet.” Performance Assessment, edited by Carol Jago. Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt.

2017. pp. 10.

Mendelssohn, Alma. “Source 2: Letter to the Editor.” Performance Assessment, edited by Carol

Jago.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 2017. pp. 11.

“Source 3: Data Analysis.” Performance Assessment, edited by Carol Jago. Houghton Mifflin

Harcourt.

2017. pp. 12.

“Source 4: Blog.” Performance Assessment, edited by Carol Jago. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

2017. pp. 13.

“Source 5: The Star Online.”

https://www.thestar.com.my/tech/tech-news/2017/05/22/piracyis-theft/

“Source 6: CNN.” https://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/opinion/smith-sopa-support/index.html