Digital Piracy, the illegal distribution of software on the Internet, is a growing issue in our society. Once a small problem, it has now grown to a massive underground network causing companies billions of dollars (Report: Digital Piracy page 1). Numerous network and Internet engineers, who are trying to solve the puzzle of how to stop the elusive distribution systems the software is transferred through, have analyzed the growing problem. Since there are many types of digital piracy and systems to distribute it, new forms of prevention are being developed.
There are many different types of software that is commonly distributed on the Internet today. The four main types are "Warez"ÃÂ, MP3 files, Movies, and Games. According to an Article by the Nando Media, the term "Warez is a hacker shorthand for the pirated versions of software"ÃÂ (Video-games Sue page 1). MP3 files are the most common type of pirated file on the Internet.
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English: Diagram of derivations and relations for ...They are music files in a very compressed format so they are easily transferred even on slow Internet connections. Movies are often movies found in the box office, stolen off of DVD discs or often the raw film rolls. They are then compressed and encrypted, or scramble the file system so that only certain users can view them. Games are often turned into other file structures called ROMS. "'ROMS,' short for read-only memory, are computer files containing video game information that can be played on a home PC with an emulator, a small application that mimics video game consoles"ÃÂ (Video-games Sue page 1).
With the many different types of pirated software, there are just as many ways to distribute it. The three main ways are FTP servers, DCC roots, and e-mail or newsgroup servers. FTP or file transfer protocol is the main way files are transferred.