Digital piracy is a constant and great danger for those who work with sound, audiovisual, written or educational content.
In the field of IT, it represents an even greater risk, since information leaks are frequent and can cause incredible losses to the reputation of companies.
But the risks of piracy go far beyond the damage caused to the end customer, who consumes an illegally used or counterfeit product. Any institution can also be harmed in various ways, especially due to the drop in sales and the negative perception of its products.
Thinking about it, we have prepared this post to explain a little more about the concept of digital piracy and give you some suggestions on how to protect yourself from it.
Digital hacking concept
Piracy is the practice of copying, selling, or reproducing products without the permission of their developers or owners.
This process occurs through the Internet, where a digital copy can be offered for a free download or through its commercialization at a price much lower than the average.
Piracy is considered a crime for both parties: the one who distributes the product and also the one who sells it.
As you know, the Internet is an extremely wide environment, and for this reason it is also very difficult to control the distribution of data and information. To avoid problems, the most recommended is to use security tools.
Digital piracy worldwide
A study carried out by the BSA (Business Software Alliance), in collaboration with IDC, set out to verify the amount and value of unlicensed software installed on computers in more than 110 national and regional economies. The results showed that even when IT managers are aware that the use of unlicensed software creates security risks, 37% of software installed on computers remains unlicensed.
On the other hand, another one prepared by , a global compilation company on digital piracy, suggests that “of the more than 300 billion visits (+ 1.6% in 2016), the most popular piracy pages are those that offer streaming playback , which accumulate 53% of the visits. Still, “sites that pirate music, TV shows, movies, publishing industry products, and software continue to see significant growth.”
The ranking of the top 10 with the largest number of pirated users, according to the study, is the United States, followed by Russia, India, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, France, Indonesia, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The numbers are frightening when it comes to smuggling and illegal trade in content and products.
Even so, and despite the impact it represents on large companies, it also affects small content producers and those who actually work in the production, dissemination and distribution of material.
A pirated book, for example, generates losses for the author, the publisher, the dealer, the translator and all those involved in the process. In addition, the reader may also be harmed by this practice, due to the fact that piracy does not provide reliable copies.
Internet video protection
There are different ways to protect videos on the Internet, for example by using a good antivirus. But there are other recommended practices, which we will talk about next:
Adopt and practice a security policy in your business
If you work with other people, it is important to adopt a security policy in your business to prevent employees from downloading dubious or illegal content, which can open system gaps and allow a cyber attack.
Protect your videos with a password
Several platforms already ensure this functionality, such as , for example.
In cases of sale of video content, it is possible to give access to passwords only to users who paid for the product. This prevents other people from having illegal access to the website.
use cryptography
If you want to protect videos against downloads, another option is to do it through content encryption. With it, all the videos that you include on the network will be encoded especially for your content consumption environment or website.
If someone downloads the video, they will not be able to play it because of that encryption. That’s a good suggestion, don’t you think?
Protect your video by domain
Through this alternative, you configure in which domain you want your videos to be displayed. That means that even if a person manages to download the videos, he will not be able to resell or distribute them, since they will only work on the configured domain.
Have a key token
With the token, all videos displayed have a security key linked to the URL where it is being displayed. That key expires as soon as the user finishes viewing the content.
Even if another person gets the URL to access directly, they will not be able to see the video, because the key will no longer work.
Myths and truths about Internet piracy
The position on combating digital piracy is unanimous. But, in the end, what is truth and what is myth on this topic? Let’s see it!
Copying and porting audio from CDs and DVD movies is a crime
Myth!
Piracy presupposes the distribution, reproduction or use of a work by people who do not have a license to do so.
So, from the moment you legally buy an original CD or DVD, you are also buying the license to use and privately reproduce the product.
Using pirated programs increases the chances of getting viruses on the computer
TRUE!
Using illegally downloaded programs without information about the source is an excellent opportunity for malicious people to plant a virus on your computer.
The suggestion is always to choose to install original programs that are not exposed to invaders.
Digital piracy harms businesses and the economy as a whole
TRUE!
As soon as a work is pirated, not only the author is harmed, but all the people involved in its production and marketing.
In addition, piracy can harm businesses by devaluing certain content that was the specialty of the.
Using torrents and P2P programs is an illegal act
Myth!
These are programs that represent a decentralized file transfer technology between computers, and that work on top of the Internet’s TCP/IP protocols.
In this way, there is no piracy. Quite the opposite: this P2P technology increasingly widens the horizons of Internet users, facilitating the free transfer of knowledge and much effective and original information.
Today many companies work with this technology model with the aim of facilitating communication in business and in collective work with the use of the computer.
The big problem occurs when users offer or distribute works to Internet users through these programs, but without having the rights to do so.
Breaking the DVD area protection is illegal
Myth!
DVD area protection is a technical limitation requested by the phonographic industry in order to establish specific regional zones for each disc. Thus, transfer from one region to another is prevented.
It is a totally technical procedure and without legal protection.
Read and learn more
Well, now that you know a little more about digital piracy and how to protect videos, you can avoid losses!
Therefore, without further ado, think and put into practice ways to protect your own materials!
If you want to know more about the subject, take advantage of the visit and also read our FAQ on how to .
Until next time!
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