Top 10 Most Pirated Things in the World

Want to watch a new movie without going to a theatre? Want to experience the gaming ‘feel’ of the game launched yesterday without purchasing a DVD? Want to listen to the audio of a new movie before the official audio launch? Piracy it is. For everything. Want to save a few bucks at the cost of quality? Want to kill the ‘art’ industry? Piracy it is again. Let’s show the world that we are not stingers, ‘We are original’ and we respect art. The art which has made our lives so wonderful. KILL PIRACY!! Before ‘killing it’, you got to know ‘where is it’. Listed below are the 10 Most Pirated Things in the world:

10. Designer items (accessories)

Designer items include apparel and ornaments. To be specific, they include men, women, children’s clothing, undergarments, outerwear, gloves, footwear and headgear. They also include accessories like handbags, purses and belts. All these things are protected under the ‘Design Piracy Prohibition act’. Everybody likes to have trendy clothes, funky accessories and flaunt them. ‘Foreign’ clothing and accessories have always been in demand. Everybody wants to put on foreign clothes, the foreign ‘super cool’ goggles and flaunt them. Having foreign accessories and explaining others the ‘uniqueness’ of the same has always been the way to go about. The ‘craze’ about foreign stuff has always been a tradition started years back. Foreign goods might be less expensive sometimes, but most of the times, they are found expensive. This expensive nature of goods is due to the ‘customs duty’ imposed on them during the course of import or export. So, people skip the ‘customs duty’ and carry goods illegally in innumerable ‘innovative’ ways. This is what is referred to as pirating/smuggling. How can you get a ‘Rolex watch’ at the nearby ‘footpath market’, that too for 10$? How can you get your very own ‘branded’ puma shoes at the next door ‘thief market’ for 20$? ‘pirating’- the word, answers all these questions. The goods once pirated are to be sold as soon as possible. The fear of the law (police raids) makes vendors sell all these goods at a very low price....

9. Spices/Eatables

People migrate from place to place (country to country) due to several reasons. A few of the reasons being ‘job transfer’, business opportunity and ‘being with acquaintances’. There a lots of people who migrate to elsewhere permanently. Most of the ‘migrants’ face lots of problems with regard to the food and culture at a foreign country. The best solution for this problem is carrying spices and eatables along with them to all the places they go. These eatables include spices, rice, vegetables, fruits and wheat to name a few (for Indians). However, the governments of foreign countries have strict rules about the import/export of eatables. Export/Import of eatables comes with a heavy customs duty. Not willing to pay this duty, people pirate eatables in various ways. This practice has lead to pirating of eatables by private operators. The private operators pirate eatables to foreign countries only to sell them for ‘sky high’ prices and yes, people will purchase those eatables whatever the prices might be, because that’s the only option they have.

8. Antique

Antique piracy has been with us since the early ages. It is an integral part of our ‘censored history’. People used to transport artistic works, archaeological findings, and the historical ornaments during the early 1900s. This tradition existed in all the major countries. The British pirated/smuggled the famous ‘Kohinoor Diamond’ which cost millions from India to U.K during the ‘Indian War of Independence’. Even today, people keep carrying antiques illegally from place to place. The most pirated antiques are the jewels, historical manuscripts, the idols and unique pieces of art. Antiques are pirated by people to sell them elsewhere for tremendous prices or to keep them as a thing of pride and esteem. The man with the ‘Indian khazana map – 1846’ is considered to be ‘wise’ and extremely ‘important’ by the society. However, the law enforces a duty on export/import of antiques. Hence, comes on the scene. India tops the list of the countries which sends out antiques illegally to foreign countries.

7. Mobile Phones

Have a mobile phone? Have an I-phone ‘imported’ from U.S? Yes, you are the showstopper in your class. Every girl is eager to talk to you, every guy is eager to lay his hands on your classy mobile, inbuilt with all the latest features and technology. And, how have you got it? The answer is ‘my relative has bought from the U.S’ This is one real time example happening these days and is nothing but Mobile phone piracy. As per law (U.S.A), an individual cannot possess more than one mobile, one network at a time. When the individuals’ acquaintances ask for a foreign mobile, what will he do? What is he supposed to do? Yes, the ‘break of law’ starts there itself and it goes on up to export/import of mobile in an illegal way. This trend is on a rise and has resulted in commercial export/import of mobiles in an illegal way. In spite of the law being implemented, people are able to pirate phones (without the payment of customs duty) from place to place by masking the law in various ways possible. Every year, more than a million mobiles are being exported/imported in various countries illegally. Though there are companies who go by rules, import mobiles and sell them. However, there are lot many who pirate phones and sell them (at lower rates comparatively).The reason for piracy-making profits and pride, well supported by today’s generation.

6. Hardware Utility

What is the difference between the laptop purchased at a company dealer for 750$ and the same laptop purchased at a local vendor for 600$? The answer to this question will explain us about Hardware Utility piracy. The company dealer is authorized to sell laptops, pays all the duties imposed and gives product guarantee. The dealer must have followed all the legal procedures for export/import of product. Whereas, the local vendor must have skipped duties, is not authorized to sell the product and there is no product guarantee. But, he sells the product at a lower price in order to grasp customer’s attention, and see to it that his sales happen at a rocket speed (fear of the law (police raids)). He is ably supported by the customers who look at the price difference as a pro and also the authorities (legal). The vendor might have got the product at a very low price (comparatively). Hardware utilities pirated includes computers, hard disks, USBs and various other components. These days we even find USBs being sold by road side vendors.

5. Books

Having an exam tomorrow morning, the text book isn’t available in the market; I haven’t taken down the class notes. What should I do? The answer is E-Books. The facility of free downloaded e-books makes everybody a ‘supporter’ of piracy. There are e-books available either as a PDF or a DOC on the internet and they are up for free download. A single click on that particular download link will pour water on all the efforts put in by the author and distributor of that particular book. There are e versions available for 99% of the books in the market. And book piracy covers all fields starting from a Kindergarten Rhymes book to a post graduate Engineering Text book. What is the reason of Book piracy? How did it start? It all started off with one ‘social’ individual posting his notes online with a motive to help his friends. It has reached a point where commercial agencies pirate and put up books online (free). The advantage for commercial agencies? Yes, they earn money from every view/every download their website gets. There is no stopping at all. In a country like India, where there is no law restricting posting of stuff online, this trend is on a rise. This trend has resulted in ‘Library Closures’ affected the book sellers, the authors and the distributors. It has killed the originals. Book piracy can also include moving of books illegally from various countries to sell it elsewhere to make profits.

4. Software

What is the operating system on which your computer runs? 99% of us will have this answer – Cracked version of Windows XP/8. Cracked? What is cracked? The meaning of the cracked version has a story to say about software piracy. IT Giants work day and night to give efficient software as an output. The efforts put in are tremendous. What happens next is pretty annoying; an individual puts up the pirated version of it on the web and this leads to downfall of the company, reduction in turnovers and sometimes to the closure of the company. Off course, the ruining of efforts put in is there. How can software be duplicated? And what is a cracked version of the software? An individual or a commercial company purchases the original licensed software, does the authorization modification (cracking), duplicates a license and puts it on the web. Who doesn’t want to make use of free software? At one end, there is the original licensed software costing 1000s, at other end there is the free pirated software. Most of the features are same as that of the original. The differences are in terms of ‘product connectivity services’, guarantee and online helpline in case of a problem. But for the generation today, all these small compromises are fine when they are able to save a few bucks. Software piracy is also helped by the fact that there are no laws protecting it/ there is no check on it.  Most of the software we use is pirated. However, the government is putting in efforts to reduce software piracy which will ultimately lead to lots of benefits discussed above. But, at the moment the stats say that Software Piracy is at No.4 position in our list of Top 10 Most pirated things in the world.

3. Games

Game downloads have always been there since the inception of internet technology. It all started with a few individual game developers. These developers put in tremendous efforts to develop computer games, wanted the world to have a look at their work to gain appreciation and make a few bucks. But, this ‘initiative’ ultimately resulted in ‘game piracy’. Today, the things are pathetic. It starts off with Game companies developing amazing games which pump up our adrenaline levels and give us thorough entertainment. But it has ended up with companies making losses, game developers losing their careers and people like us having fun with free downloaded games. This ‘fever’ has also made its mark in mobile industry. The cracked game versions rule again. The license duplicated, the game play unchanged and free of cost is the rule. But, ‘gamers’ have to compromise on graphics, tech support and guarantee. Companies are taking up initiatives to reduce piracy by making technical modifications. People have also realized the value and thrill of playing a game with the original graphics and support.

2. Songs/Music Files

At No.2 is Songs piracy. I am viewing the audio release function online and at the same am browsing stuff. I am surprised to see that particular audio which has not been launched yet on the net with a caption ‘free download’. Yes, this is all the ‘miracle’ of the song piracy. Song piracy enables individual or commercial operators to upload songs/music files and the source? The singers’ driver’s mobile phone. The mobile phone was involved in recording the audio while the singer was recording songs at the studio, and hence the audio is released on the web before it is officially released. The ill-effects being on the music industry and artists involved. The ‘positive’ effects being ‘saved a few bucks’ at the compromise of audio quality and becoming a financial source for illegal ‘audio up loaders’. Nothing can stop audio piracy except a change in the thought process of the public. The audio download stats indicate the rest.

1. Movies/TV Shows/Videos

A movie releases today and within a few hours, one of the website says ‘Download Movie’. How is this possible? Yes, it is possible with movie piracy being the talk of the town. ‘Advancements in technology have ruined lives’. Movie piracy is one of the ill-effects that technology has left us with. Movie piracy is all the effort of individuals or commercial agents who video photo shoot while it is playing in the theatres on day1 and post the same online. Online posting of movies gives commercial websites the ‘hits’ and also the ‘bucks’. This is well supported by viewers who want to save a few bucks and ready to compromise in terms of picture clarity and the theatre ‘movie enjoyment’. The losers being the film producers, the actors and the support staff. This piracy has lead to millions of losses to the film industry, dragged producers to take up heavy debts and also had an effect on every person of the industry. Government rules and laws were also not able to reduce movie piracy. Hence, it tops our list and will keep topping this list unless the mindset of people changes.