Glamorous Piracy...

Today, news leaked that the entertainment industry no longer thinks the word 'pirate' is derogatory enough to label people who file share.

The comments come from Agnete Haaland, President of the International Actor's Federation:

"To me, piracy is something adventurous, it makes you think about Johnny Depp. We all want to be a bit like Johnny Depp. But we're talking about a criminal act. We're talking about making it impossible to make a living from what you do."

Part of me can't help but agree, If your issue is a load of teenagers and 20-something's copying your stuff for free, calling these people one of the coolest names ever isn't going to help you. the same applies to 'Ninjas' and 'Zombies'.

Ironically, it was the industry itself that first used the name 'pirate' to refer to a file-sharer, in law piracy refers to civil issues, not 'criminal acts', a quick scan of google images after typing 'music pirates' in shows how much people have liked the term. hell, this is one of the most iconic issues in the whole debate...

So, if piracy is no longer effective as a deterrent (because it never was), what words should the industry use to describe copyright infringement and the people who do it?

Here are some of my suggestions:

Ninjacy - although this might fall into the same trap.

Content Liberation

Freedom Rapists

Mass Murderers - it's only a few steps up from pirate.

Ex-Customers - it's funny coz it's true.

Shep.