How to solve digital piracy

You should know the basics of E-commerce from the IB course

Advantages to businesses include – possibility of wider customer base, the ability to update product information quickly, the ability to offer a wider product range etc
Disadvantages to businesses include - possibility that so called 'aggregate sites' drive prices down to the 'lowest common denominator' etc

Advantages to customers include – increased convenience of online shopping, a wider range of products and stores to choose from etc.

Disadvantages to customers include the possibility of credit card fraud, sites that download harmful spyware to computers etc.

A related topic is the problems of illegal downloading and filesharing faced by music and film producers. This Guardian file sharing link is worth checking out: there are arguments for and against digital file sharing. You will see that there is still no agreement on how business can preoct its products from illegal copying

Cybercrime threat rising sharply

Read this BBC article on the growth of cybercrime before answering the following questions.

1) What is the estimated annual cost of cybercrime?
2) Define the word “cybercrime”
3) Why is it so hard to catch cybercriminals?
4) What arguments can you identify for and against greater Government?