I am about to start doing my undergraduate economics honors thesis. I want to write something about the relationship of piracy with economics. However, I am confused on what things to look at. My thesis should include something with econometrics. I don't know what variables to look. Please help me.

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Originally Posted by kurara99

I am about to start doing my undergraduate economics honors thesis. I want to write something about the relationship of piracy with economics. However, I am confused on what things to look at. My thesis should include something with econometrics. I don't know what variables to look. Please help me.

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"Demand for America's copyrighted works drives the nation's economy, creates
personally and financially rewarding jobs and contributes to the positive side
of the trade books. But intellectual property theft on a global scale is
threatening America's creators.

"For example, just this week I learned of a graphic artist whose works, as
Well as others' illustrations, had been scraped off his web site and
Repackaged without permission by a Hong Kong publisher that is now charging
$100 for the book."

Ross applauded USTR for shining a spotlight on the issue of global
intellectual property rights with its annual report and pointed to two recent
studies about copyright, piracy and the economy.

AT A GLANCE:
Global piracy costs the U.S. economy $58 billion annually, nearly 375,000
jobs, $16.3 billion in annual earnings and $2.6 billion in tax revenue.
SOURCE: "The True Cost of Copyright Industry Piracy to the U.S. Economy";
Stephen E. Siwek, Economists Inc. for the Institute for Policy Innovation,
October 2007

...
Poll: Does Music Piracy Hurt Record Sales?
Kanye West once joked that he wants people to stop stealing his music so that he can add a second swimming pool to his backyard. But there's nothing funny about kids getting thrown in jail for pirating their favorite songs. Interestingly enough, studies found that as number of illegal downloads increase, so do music sales. In fact, The Game recently disclosed that he leaked his new album, Doctor's Advocate, as a sampler to encourage people to buy the CD. Experts project that Doctor's Advocate, which is headed to No.1 on Billboard 200, will sell anywhere from 400,000 to 450,000 copies in its first week.
...
Online piracy hurts 2002 music sales: ARIA
James Pearce, ZDNet Australia

23 January 2003 03:00 PM

Tags: aria, peer-to-peer, copyright, piracy, riaa, pirating, ripping, dvd

Australia's music industry has reiterated its determination to combat online piracy after reporting a sharp decline in recorded music sales in 2002, fuelling the intensity of a battle which has already involved a range of Internet industry players.
The Australian Record Industry Association made the claim in a statement which revealed the dollar value of the audio market - excluding music video and DVD - slumped 8.9 per cent from AU$629 million in 2001 to AU$573 million in 2002. Volume of music sold slid 4.4 per cent and average wholesale price slumped 4.5 per cent.

ARIA said, however, that online piracy was just one of the factors which contributed to the slump, with others including unsettled economic conditions, a tough retail environment, emerging competition from DVD and "continuing competition from mobile technologies and computer games".

ARIA however, said development of "legitimate" online business models were on the rise. "We are also seeing the continued development of legitimate online business models, particularly in the US, with many companies, including all the majors, now engaged in online distribution of their catalogues," it said.

See links below for thesis inspiration


US Commerce Secretary Says China's Intellectual Piracy Hurts Trade Expansion related news:
U.S. presses Chinese to curb piracy — Asia - Pacific - International Herald Tribune
Top U.S. official says China piracy hurting trade — Reuters: Politics
Commerce Secretary urges trade catch-up in China — Reuters: Politics
Commerce Secretary Tries Personal Persuasion in China — NYT > Business
Top U.S. official warns China on piracy anger — Reuters: Politics
U.S. commerce secretary says China needs to toughen piracy crackdown — USATODAY.com World - Top Stories
Gutierrez urges China piracy crackdown (AP) — Yahoo! News: World News
Gutierrez Urges China Piracy Crackdown — AP Top International News At 1:25 a.m.
U.S. Seeks Further Trade Talks With China — WSJ.com: What's News US
U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez answers a question... — World Trade Organization on Yahoo! News Photos