Crime Shouldn’t Pay: Why Is Digital Piracy Worth Billions?

Jaci McDole
Senior Director, Copyright and Creativity, Global Innovation Policy Center, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Published

November 12, 2024

For the cost of easily accessible technology, criminals can become multi-millionaires as digital pirates, all at the expense of consumers and the economy.

What Happened

On September 30, 2024, the Chamber hosted its 1st Annual Digital Piracy Symposium to discuss intellectual property (IP) theft by criminal entities. During the symposium, the Chamber addressed the consumer harms, security risks, and criminal nexus associated with digital piracy, and hosted a panel featuring insights from Professor Justin Hughes of Loyola Law School, Tom Galvin of Digital Citizens Alliance, Matt Lamberti of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division at the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS), Vu Nguyen of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and Carlos A. Vázquez of the Spanish National Police.

Symposium attendees consistently heard that digital piracy is a low-risk, high-reward criminal endeavor. Panel participants agreed that deterrence and enforcement need to be increased across the board for criminal enterprises that engage in digital IP theft.

Why Policymakers Should Care

Digital piracy costs American businesses almost $77 billion annually. Piracy sites use stolen content as bait to hook visitors, “ripping off creators and targeting consumers for harm.” Site operators net $2.3 billion annually through ads and subscription fees, with $122 million coming from malware-embedded advertisements.

1 in 3 Americans admit to using pirate sites, and illicit streaming of sports content is the most prominent form of piracy. With 8 out of 10 pirate sites promoting malvertising, it’s no wonder consumers who visit these sites are three times more likely to report malware, and those who use a credit card to subscribe for a pirated service are four times more likely to be a victim of fraud.

Key Insights:

Digital piracy is a low-risk, high-reward criminal endeavor.
Training individuals to develop and operate piracy service sites is a growing trend.
Government agencies are implementing dynamic site-blocking measures and international collaborations.
CCIPS and USPTO are involved in the United States Trade Representative’s Special 301 Report and Notorious Markets List process, and they seek industry insights on these.
Continued education and engagement with international governments are crucial.

What’s Next

The Chamber’s 1st Annual Digital Piracy Symposium highlighted several concerns and opportunities, emphasizing the need for continued engagement and collaboration. The Chamber remains committed to addressing this issue and welcomes further collaboration from all stakeholders. In the coming months, we will speak with the new Congress and Administration about enacting smart policies that reduce digital piracy and promote America’s creative economy.