Pirates and society: increasing literacy and access to knowledge

This is not about pirates from Somalia - they certainly do not increase the literacy level of the population (although the current material has to do with Africa). We are talking about digital pirates, which record studios are trying to present as terrible monsters that can even take candy from a baby. A study by the African Institute for Management and Development shows that things are not so bad with digital piracy .

In fact, the authors of the study say, pirates help to increase literacy and provide access to knowledge to residents of regions where the Internet is almost the only way to get educational materials. In many areas of Africa, legal access to textbooks, non-fiction books or software is closed, so residents have to find not quite legal ways to obtain such data.

And the fight against pirates can very negatively affect the capabilities of the inhabitants of the Black Continent. For example, pirate fighters recently shut down Library.nu, which was one of the main sources of information for Africans.

A study by the African Institute for Management and Development shows the impact of digital piracy on society in 11 countries on the continent. In particular, this work indicates that the adoption by the countries of the continent of strict anti-piracy legislation only harms the region and does not benefit (except for the copyright holders, of course).

The research work also shows that in those countries of Africa where the legislation on pirates is soft, residents have more opportunities in terms of obtaining textbooks, scientific information, and software.

The unequivocal conclusion is that digital piracy has positive aspects, and there are many of them (there are interesting publications on this subject ). This probably applies not only to Africa, but also to other countries.