What Is Piracy?

Anyone who sells, acquires, copies or distributes copyrighted materials without permission is called a pirate. Downloading a movie without paying for it is morally and ethically no different to walking into a store and stealing a DVD off the shelf. Sharing it through peer-to-peer applications or posting it on a forum for downloading is akin to giving illegal copies to thousands and millions of people for free. Piracy is committed in many ways, including via the Internet by downloading and swapping movies, and on the streets, where illegally duplicated VCDs and DVDs are sold by shopowners and street vendors.