With the latest advances in today’s technology and the innovation that has risen from our low observable aircraft all the way down advanced composite structures that are raising the bar in air superiority (PR Newswire, 2009). In this era, there are individuals who have the capability to get into your computer’s files, deploy viruses, Trojans and worms that will destroy your computer and your life. These have a negative impact on the lives of millions of people across the globe. Identity theft, privacy violations and stealing copyright material and selling it for financial gain (Oregon Law Review, 2003). The information that I will go over explains why many acts were put into action due to these problems. Even though they are all put in place, there are still people who think they are above the law.

In 1997, the no electronic theft act (NET) was established. This act was established due to the fact that many major corporations were losing revenue because people were uploading company products onto servers where people had free reign on what was being uploaded (Oregon Law Review, 2003). The problem was that these individuals were doing this for financial gain to put money in their pockets. There were also some who were in charge of these sites but were not looking for any type of monetary gain. The way that the punishments have been established is that even if you were involved with these acts of piracy and had no intent to distribute for money, you will still be penalized.

Let’s think about this for a second. How many people do you know of who have downloaded products from places such as the pirate bay. Looking back into the mid 1990’s there was a website by the name of Napster (Winter, 2003). The platform was a big deal while I was in high school. Other students would come to school talking about the music they downloaded or other video games and would use the