John Doe orders bring light in dark age of digital piracy

Among various technological developments in the past two decades, the internet and other digital means of communication and publication have taken the highest leap. However, parallel to the escalation in the use of the internet and other digital media, piracy has mushroomed, which has depleted the fruits of labour for intellectual property (IP) right owners in various domains of work, especially cinematographic films.

Every day, news reports evidence the ubiquitous and perilous nature of digital piracy. Movies and TV shows are leaked for Torrent downloads and online streaming within hours or days of their release. Sometimes films, TV shows or their scripts are leaked even before their scheduled date of release, robbing their authors/owners of right of first publication as well.

Uglier sides of piracy have been witnessed in recent weeks, with hackers demanding ransom from the producers in exchange for not leaking the works online (the Game of Thrones fiasco). What makes digital piracy so prone to risk and tough to curb is the inability of IP owners to identify the infringers due to the omnipresent nature of digital media and the resultant exponential number of pirates.

Aprajita Nigam is an associate at LexOrbis.