News/Research

Abigail De Kosnik & Alpha 60 in the California Magazine

25 Jan, 2018

Abigail De Kosnik & Alpha 60 in the California Magazine

The California Magazine did a special on Associate Professor of New Media Studies Abigail De Kosnik and her research with Alpha60, a data analytics project ran by her and her husband. The title of the piece is "Meet the “Pro-Piracy” Professor Who Studies ‘Game of Thrones’ Downloads" written by Bill Snyder.

As technology advances, television distribution companies continue to worry about the pressing issues of piracy. De Kosnik found through Alpha60 that 14% of people who watched the last Game of Thrones premiere did not pay to do so. HBO, the production company behind the show, has reportedly sent warning letters to BitTorrent and other websites that give way for free file sharing.

De Kosnik is in favor of piracy, or more accurately, she is in favor of free TV. She tells California Magazine: "TV was free for years. You’d pay by watching commercials. Cable is way overpriced and that’s one reason why people are using BitTorrent.There’s a lot of antipiracy rhetoric that puts a lot of guilt on Internet users."

Her argument has to do with the growing fan culture - support from collective groups of fans. Easier access to their favorite shows allows more means for people to begin conversation and "hype" over these media texts.

Read more of De Kosnik's arguments here.