Online piracy
illegal reproduction and sharing of information on the Internet
Online piracy (also known as digital piracy, internet piracy, software piracy or piracy) is the practice of illegally downloading or redistributing copyrighted digital works, such as music, movies or software.
History
Modern online piracy has been traced back to similar problems posed by the printing press. There have historically been a number of technologies which have had a "dual effect" of facilitating legitimate sharing of information, but which also facilitate the ease with which copyright can be violated. Online piracy is similar to issues faced in the early 20th century by stationers in England, who tried to prevent the large scale printing and distribution of illicit sheet music.
Starting in the 1980s, the availability of dial-up modems led to the creation of the first warez distribution groups. Piracy of Atari 8-bit and Atari ST software was so rampant that it discouraged publishers from releasing products for those computers. ST-Log warned that "we had better put a stop to piracy now ... it can have harmful effects on the longevity and health of your computer". Internet Relay Chat featured file servers and XDCC prior to numerous methods and still continue to be used.
The release of Napster in 1999 caused a rapid upsurge in online piracy of music, films, and television, though it always maintained a focus on music in the MP3 format.
“Online piracy” enters the record as illegal reproduction and sharing of information on the Internet. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Online, piracy and illegal can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Online piracy” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Online, piracy and illegal provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16546711. The first chronological checks are 1999.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Online piracy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Online piracy primary sources, Online piracy archive and Online research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Online piracy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.