EMERGING THREATS TO THE ONLINE PLATFORMS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE EXTENT AND PREVALENCE OF PIRACY AND OTHER ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES RELATED TO THE SELLING OF ONLINE CONTENT [IN KZN]

This study provided an overview of piracy as a global phenomenon and a possible threat to South Africa and KwaZulu-Natal online platforms. An analysis of the extent and prevalence of piracy and other illegal activities related to selling online content in KwaZulu-Natal is discussed from a broad overview of online piracy. The study recommends that copyright laws in South Africa should be clearer and should extend to education and training platforms. Cultivation of digital environment and access to affordable internet access. Lastly, better law enforcement structures, including a specific police unit that deals with copyright infringement of creative industry outputs like film, should be implemented. This recommendation is extended to include specific punishable actions that policy and law enforcement should implement to curb piracy.