Parents and children must learn that theft includes bits and bytes
It is one of those things your parents try to teach you when you are young and impressionable - that taking someone else's belongings without their knowledge is called stealing. And that people who steal from others will some day be punished.
I grew up believing in that. Today, this sort of thinking sounds terribly out of date, especially when millions of songs, movies, television shows and games are stolen off the internet every day, and the majority of thieves get off scot-free.
That's right. In case you have been living under a rock for the past five years, sharing copyright material over the internet, be it the latest Lindsay Lohan single or the most recent episode of The Apprentice, is a form of piracy. It is stealing, plain and simple. They do not call them 'illegal downloads' for nothing, especially when you have paid next to nothing for them.
I am referring, of course, to anyone who has downloaded such content using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks or via internet relay chat servers. Tech-savvy users know that such software is freely and easily available online. It lets them search the Web for songs and movies and, with a few mouse clicks, transfer those files to their hard drives.
Expert file-sharers will tell you that there are even private file-sharing sites, where users will have to pay a monthly subscription but are guaranteed fast downloads and fresh content. According to them, these membership fees still pale in comparison to how much they would have to fork out if they actually bought original content.
The music industry has not taken this lightly. After successfully shutting down the popular music file-sharing site Napster (it has been relaunched as an online music store), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began targeting end-users in September 2003. Since then, it has served close to 12,000 lawsuits against file-sharers.
In Asia, similar action is being taken to curb such criminal activity. Last month, three men were arrested at their Singapore homes for distributing 20,000 digital music files over the internet. The police raid was conducted after a tip from the Record Industry Association Singapore (RIAS).
The association, which represents several large record companies such as Universal Music, Sony BMG, EMI Music and Warner Music, alleges that the three made a large number of English and Malay music files available for others to download, using an internet chat program.
Yet, the number of people who continue to use peer-to-peer networks have more than doubled in the same period.
According to statistics by media measurement firm Big Champagne, an average of 8.6 million P2P users swapping files in April in the United States, up from 4 million in 2003.
Part of the problem is that many users do not believe there is anything wrong with downloading 'free' music or movies. Add to that the notion the internet is just full of free (or cheap) stuff, and the idea of paying for something obtained online sounds ludicrous.
Such attitudes are common not just among students who have little or no budgets for original media but young working adults as well.
As for parents, some even think it is cool their kids can obtain free music online. I am sure they would think differently if their child shoplifted a CD.
While legal and enforcement efforts will continue, the industry knows that the best way to tackle piracy in the long run is through education. But its efforts should really be aimed at young children as well as parents, so that the whole notion of stealing from others can include the theft of digital assets.
As a parent who works in the TV industry, I tell my children that every episode, every song and every movie is the result of days, if not weeks or months, of hard work.
When someone downloads a song or movie illegally, they are stealing that work.
While digital content is purely just bits and bytes of computer data, it does take up space on the hard drive. If they find that hard to comprehend, simply burn a song or movie file on to a disc, and instantly it becomes a physical product.
As for punishment, the three Singapore suspects caught last month for distributing all that pirated music could face jail terms of up to five years, or fines up to S$100,000 ($458,000).
I suppose what my parents taught me about stealing and then having to face the music is not so outdated after all.
Hopefully, my kids will also grow up believing in that.
CNBC's technology anchor Keith Liu fronts the technology programme Generation-e with co-anchor Amanda Drury. He also presents a daily technology segment on Asia Market Wrap and CNBC Tonight.
