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How can we account for piracy? Copyright owners commonly explain this offense in terms of easy access to information technologies coupled with a weak system of legal control. However, this argument is little more than speculation, for the problem has not been a subject of systematic investigation. Routine activities theory offers an alternative explanation. This theory proposes that piracy flows from the convergence in time and space of three elements: motivated offenders, suitable targets, and an absence of capable guardians.

Piracy requires a motivated offender, a person who is both willing and able to violate the law. In the United States, the desire to misuse creative works seems pervasive. It may stem partly from the ideology that informs copyright law, an ideology that taps basic cultural values. While intellectual property law endorses the economic principle that authors have a right to remuneration for their labor, it also endorses the democratic principle that citizens have the right to as much information as they deem necessary. The idea is that if people are to lead rich, meaningful lives, they must be able to draw upon and use the creative works of others. This principle encourages people to regard intellectual objects as free and to use them in any way they see fit. The desire to misuse creative works also may stem from the belief that the behavior is harmless. Piracy lacks the clear, tangible loss associated with conventional forms of crime, and this seems to make the behavior justifiable, even acceptable. Partial confirmation of this view comes from a 2006 Harris Interactive survey of American opinion about Internet file downloading. The survey found that 54 percent of youth regard downloading as wrong, while 92 percent regard shoplifting as wrong. It's important to remember that a person who is willing to engage in piracy must be able to do so. The offense is facilitated, if not made possible, by exploitative information technologies, such as optical scanners, digital cameras and recorders, and personal computers.

Piracy requires a suitable target, an object that is appealing and vulnerable. In the United States, creative works have considerable value; they are in great demand and a source of enormous wealth. Creative works also are vulnerable to misuse. Obviously, they are accessible to people. Because they are designed for consumption, owners strive to make these objects affordable. Because access to information is cherished, democratic governments attempt to make many of these objects available through public channels, such as libraries. Moreover, the reduction of words, sounds, and images to a digital form has made it easier to reproduce, alter, and distribute creative works.

Finally, piracy requires an absence of capable guardians. In the realm of copyright, capable guardians have been limited. On the one hand, government efforts to protect creative works have been modest. Historically, the government has done little to control misuse. For the most part, agencies have registered works and assigned exclusive rights to them; owners have been responsible for guarding their rights and enforcing them. On the other hand, owners' efforts to protect their works have been constrained. The diffusion of creative works, people's easy access to these objects as well as exploitative information technologies, and people's rights to use these objects in private have made it difficult for owners to monitor the use of their works and ensure that their rights are respected.

References:

1) Lessig, Lawrence. 2004. Free Culture. New York: Penguin.

2) Luckenbill, David F. and Susan L. Miller. 1998. "Defending Intellectual Property: State Efforts to Protect Creative Works." Justice Quarterly 15:93-120.

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