Warez Trading and Criminal Copyright Infringement

Abstract

Warez traders have been blamed as a significant cause of copyright piracy, which has led to several dozen conviction of warez traders in the past two years. The article analyzes how criminal copyright infringement and other laws apply to warez trading. The article also describes the prosecutions of warez trading, including a comprehensive chart of all warez trading convictions. The article concludes with a brief policy discussion about the problems created by Congress' effort to criminalize warez trading.

Keywords: Warez, warez trading, abandonware, criminal copyright infringement, no electronic theft act

JEL Classification: K14, K42