For the last 15 years or so, Internet piracy has been a nightmare for entertainment publishers. This is partly fueled by Napster’s music-sharing technology in the 90s, and the increasing speed of internet connections. Initially music files were the first to undergo the piracy, and that is largely due to the fact that each track is a considerably small file, that can be downloaded in a couple of minutes, even if you were using a dial-up connection. Today, consumers can download, copy, and transfer as many media files as they want, irrespective of the file size(s). Even movies and games which are hundreds or thousands of times bigger that a music track can be easily transferred from one computer to another worldwide.

For the majority of young and savvy users, the internet has become a resource for free media. But for major publishing and media companies, this is considered a criminal act. In both Britain and the USA, legal threats are being sent out to file sharers. Generally, a file-sharer is perceived to be computer hackers, maybe in their 20s, but in reality, many of them are children. These children use broadband lines for which their parents are the registered owners. When a legal letter carrying an accusation of piracy gets to the parents, it will be a total surprise.

Files sharers also do a lot of hoarding; mainly download games, which they end up not even using or playing. They also do a lot of swapping amongst friends to build up their collection even more. By storing all these games on their computer, they could be caught and prosecuted. Parent must monitor their children’s file-sharing activities, and also caution them on the legalities involved.