Pirates of the Internet

Pirating has become a giant issue since the rise of the Internet.  Every day, millions of people share songs with each other or download blockbuster games for free, most with no idea that what they're doing is illegal. Stealing physical objects obviously harms the person stolen from: they own a car, now you have it, they want it back.  Digital robbery, on the other hand, is much less tangible and understandable.  How can getting a file be wrong if the provider does not lose a file?  How are they harmed by that?  Nevertheless, digital piracy is illegal in the United States, although usually not enforced due to the high number of pirates.

http://www.northescambia.com/2008/11/major-pirating-bust-152684-in-movies-music-seized

The basic idea behind piracy being illegal is that, by pirating a program, game, song, or video for free, you have gotten that file without paying the creators of that file.  Essentially, what you have stolen isn't the file itself, but the money that the creators would have gotten had you bought it.  A patent attorney that spoke to my engineering class once explained that the creators of the file don't actually own the file; they own the right to copy that file and the idea behind the file (copyright).  Thus, when you send your friend your favorite songs or pirate the latest episode of your favorite show, you are breaking the law because neither you nor the site that you got the episode have the right to produce extra copies of the file.

On the other hand, there are many arguments that piracy actually helps the creators of what was pirated.  A large user base is always good for the producer of a product.  As more and more people own it, more people are exposed to it.  When people pirate digital products, they increase the user base, sometimes drastically beyond what could have been achieved with legal purchases.  Occasionally, the producers even embrace pirates; the developers of the computer game Hotline Miami even provided pirates with a way to play the best version of the game, hoping to give all players the best impression of the game.  Time will tell if these measures will have better or worse results than doing everything possible to stop pirates.