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93 Ind. L.J. 975 (2018)
Typhoid Mario: Video Game Piracy as Viral Vector and National Security Threat

handle is hein.journals/indana93 and id is 1027 raw text is: Typhoid Mario: Video Game Piracy as Viral Vector and National Security Threat ANDREW V. MOSHIRNIA' Current academic and policy discussions regarding video game piracy focus on the economic losses inherent to copyright infringement. Unfortunately, this approach neglects the most significant implication ofvideo game piracy: malware distribution. Copyright-motivated efforts to shut down file-sharing sites do little to reduce piracy and actually increase viral malware infection. Pirated video games are an ideal de- livery device for malware, as users routinely launch unverfed programs andforego virus detection. The illicit nature of the transaction forces users to rely almost en- tirely on the reputation of websites, uploaders, and other users to determine ifa file is safe to download. In spite of this, stakeholders continue to push for ineffectual anti-infringement actions that destroy this reputational infrastructure. Scholars and policymakers have not made a case for utility by considering only first-stage economic incentives to create content. In addition to the economic conse- quences, malware must be taken seriously as a threat to infrastructure and national security, especially in light of Russia's efforts to infect machines to influence and delegitimize elections. Accordingly, this Article proposes that we adopt a harm re- duction philosophy that both dissuades piracy and decreases the malware risk at- tendant to ongoing piracy. INTRODUCTION ......................................... ........... 976 I. PIRACY IN THE VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY: THE ECONOMIC DEBATE OVER PIRACY AND DRM ................ ............................. .......... 979 A. PIRACY PIPELINE: CRACKING FILES AND DISTRIBUTING THEM TO THE PUBLIC......................................................... 981 1. PUBLISHER USE OF DRM ............................. ....... 981 2. THE SCENE, LEAKERS, AND LEECHERS......................... 983 3. TRANSMISSION METHOD: BITTORRENT ........................ 986 B. PIRACY IS RAMPANT BUT HARD NUMBERS ARE SCARCE......... ..... 987 C. CALCULATING THE COST: LOST SALES AND POTENTIAL ADVERTISING BENEFITS ....................................................... 991 D. CURRENT EFFORTS TO COMBAT PIRACY: PURSUING TORRENT SITE SHUTDOWNS .................................................... 994 II. GAME VIRAL VECTORS POSE SIGNIFICANT YET NEGLECTED THREATS ........... 996 A. GENERAL HARMS OF MALWARE ............................. 997 B. BOTNETS POSE SPECIAL RISK ..................................... 1000 1. ESTONIA .................................................. 1004 2. UKRAINE ........................................ 1005 3. OTHER POLITICALLY MOTIVATED DDoS ATTACKS ............. 1005 * Andrew V. Moshirnia received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he served as Forum Chair of the Harvard Law Review and received his PhD from the University of Kansas. He is currently a Senior Lecturer at Monash Business School, Monash University. He would like to thank Ashley Chung, Aaron Dozeman, Sonia Fleury, Hank Greenberg, Anthony Moshirnia, Brian Sheppard, and the scholars of the IPSC for their valuable assistance.

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