Poier writes: "[C]opyright was, in the Eighteenth century, a newly issued law which protected an immaterial good never considered before. Copyright was opening a new chapter in legal history. The statute of Anne was founding a new legal territory, as well as setting up and sketching out the first cartography of it. Illegitimate printers, as pirates before them, could be considered pioneers in newly discovered and settled territories. Those territories were potentially extremely rich and vast - even if it was not clear to anyone exactly how rich and vast they were. Authors, but especially printers, wanted to monitor this new activity and set up clear laws which could punish those who were not following the terms of the pact among printers. The definition of the illegitimate printers as pirates then is not just a rhetorical stratagem, but shows us that pirates and counterfeiters have in common more than the plundering of rich merchants: they reveal an attitude of criminalization activated by markets and governments." (45-6).  In this passage Poier is basically arguing that there is a sense and logic to the semantic expansion of piracy to describe counterfeiters; he is saying they actually have somet things in common. So how do you understand his argument: what are the things they share according to Poier? Based on class materials do you agree with his argument or are there important points that he is missing?

The record industry's approach of suing randomly selected file sharers does not surprise one set of people: copyright historians. They already know what the rest of us are slowly learning: that copyright was never intended to pay artists for their work, and that rather than being meant to assist creators, it was designed by and for distributors — i.e., publishers, which includes record labels today. However, now that the Internet has provided us with a world without distribution fees, restricting sharing in order to pay for centralized distribution no longer makes sense. It is now not only possible, but desirable, to give up copyright. Financially and artistically, both artists and audiences would benefit.

If the industry has its way, none of this will happen. The publishing industry has worked tirelessly for three centuries to obscure copyright's true origins and promote the myth that it was invented by writers and artists. They continue to lobby for ever-stronger anti-sharing legislation, worldwide treaties requiring all governments to adhere to the strongest copyright standards, and, above all, to ensure that the public never questions who this system is supposed to assist. The public's reaction to the file-sharing litigation demonstrates the public's appreciation for these efforts. While most individuals think that the business went too far this time,

To appreciate how thoroughly this reaction plays into the hands of the industry, one must first grasp the true history of copyright. The record labels are unconcerned about whether they win or lose these lawsuits. They don't anticipate to be able to completely eliminate file sharing in the long run. They're fighting for something much bigger. They're battling to keep a mindset, an attitude toward creative work, that says someone should own mental creations and have control over who can reproduce them. By framing the debate as a battle between the Beleaguered Artist, who ostensibly needs copyright to pay the rent, and the Unthinking Masses, who would rather copy a song or a story from the Internet than pay a fair price, the industry between them and the Beleaguered Artist gains a competitive advantage.

Counterfeiters are opportunistic, taking advantage of the growing number of online marketing occasions like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Amazon Prime Day, and frequently targeting the most popular or relevant products in the current market. With the surge in the sale of counterfeit medical and pharmaceutical items in recent months, brand owners have seen this kind of opportunism. 'Viral Marketing: Counterfeits, substandard goods, and intellectual property crime in the COVID-19 pandemic,' according to a report by EUROPOL, organized crime groups distributing counterfeit goods have quickly shifted their focus to products such as medical equipment, pharmaceutical products, and home COVID-19 test kits. COVID-19's recent e-commerce boom is expected to have boosted the UK industry by GBP5.3 billion by 2020.

With Christmas approaching and consumers opting for online shopping this year, counterfeiters are likely to shift their focus to consumer products in an attempt to profit from the ever-increasing online traffic. Lancashire Trading Standards seized a million pounds worth of counterfeit goods earlier this month following a series of test purchases of products marketed on eBay revealed the goods were counterfeit. 8 With so many counterfeit products on the market, 89 percent of which are imported from China, it's hard for organizations like Trading Standards and the City of London Police's Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU) to combat the sale of these items on their own .The fact that you are aware of the heightened danger is only the first step.

Pirates have been around since the dawn of time. They posed a menace to ancient Greece's commerce channels, seizing grain and olive oil cargoes from Roman ships. The Vikings were the most famous and far-reaching pirates in early Middle Ages Europe.

The Treaty of Tordesillas, signed in 1494, partitioned the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus between Spain and Portugal. They were governed by the laws of Spain and the Catholic Church .While this contract indicated that Spain and Portugal had agreed on the division, the English did not believe the Pope had the authority to acquire land that they desired. They made the decision to take action.

Between 1650 and 1720, tens of thousands of pirates were active. Piracy's 'Golden Age' is commonly referred to as these years. Blackbeard (Edward Teach), Henry Morgan, William 'Captain' Kidd, 'Calico' Jack Rackham, and Bartholomew Roberts are among famous pirates from this time period. During this period, both affluent and poor people heard about piracy. On the streets, people sang ballads about current events. For the price of a cup of coffee, newspapers might be read for free at coffee shops. The more well-known pirates' deeds drew a wide range of reactions. They were frequently depicted in the media as powerful and well-dressed.