Rightscorp COO Robert Steele's Article Featured on The Trichordist

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Feb. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Rightscorp (OTCQB: RIHT), the leading provider of monetization services for artists and holders of copyrighted Intellectual Property (IP), announced that its Chief Operating Officer Robert Steele's article titled "Is the Piracy Threat Really Decreasing" has been featured on The Trichordist.

In the online article, Mr. Steele poses the question of whether piracy has been on the decline given reports such as Sandvine, which has claimed that during the second half of 2013, file-sharing's share of aggregate peak-period traffic in North America fell from 10.5% to 8.93%. Mr. Steele makes the case that piracy in terms of number of movies and music files consumed has actually steadily increased since overall internet traffic grows at a much faster rate than the percentage decline in overall share. To support this notion, Mr. Steele cites flat or declining revenues for major media companies, which is contrary to recent reports that digital piracy is declining. In addition, the increase use of VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) is allowing BitTorrent users to become more savvy by masking their traffic from their ISP, indicating the rise in popularity of "dark nets" including Tor and other encrypted digital lockers used for online piracy.

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) states that since peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing emerged in 1999, music sales in the U.S. have dropped 53%, from $14.6 billion to $7.0 billion in 2012. According to the RIAA, approximately 30 billion songs were illegally downloaded on file-sharing networks between 2004 and 2009. A study conducted by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) based on over 20,000 surveys of consumers conducted in 22 countries, found that piracy was costing movie studios $6.1 billion a year. The Institute for Policy Innovation concludes that global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year, 71,060 U.S. jobs lost, a loss of $2.7 billion in workers' earnings.

The Tricordist is an online publication focused on creating a sustainable and ethical internet for the protection of artists rights in the digital age.  The article can be found on The Trichordist website at: http://thetrichordist.com/2014/02/15/is-the-piracy-threat-really-decreasing/

About Rightscorp, Inc.
Rightscorp (OTCQB: RIHT) is a leading provider of monetization services for artists and holders of copyrighted Intellectual Property (IP). The Company's patent pending digital loss prevention technology focuses on the infringement of digital content such as music, movies, software, and games and ensures that owners and creators are rightfully paid for their IP.  Rightscorp implements existing laws to solve copyright infringements by collecting payments from illegal file sharing activities via notifications sent through Internet Service Providers (ISPs).  The Company's technology identifies copyright infringers, who are offered a reasonable settlement option when compared to the legal liability defined in the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act (DMCA). Based on the fact that 24% of all Internet traffic is used to distribute copyrighted content without permission or compensation to the creators, Rightscorp is pursuing an estimated $2.3 billion opportunity and has monetized major media titles through relationships with industry leaders. http://www.rightscorpinc.com/

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release may include forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the Company's anticipated financial position, business strategy and plans and objectives of management of the Company for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this press release, words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," and similar expressions, as they relate to the Company or its management, identify forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs of the Company's management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company's management. Actual results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors not limited to, general economic and business conditions, competitive factors, changes in business strategy or development plans, the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, and changes in legal and regulatory requirements. Such forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Company with respect to future events and are subject to these and other risks, uncertainties and assumptions relating to the operations, results of operations, growth strategy and liquidity of the Company.  All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by this paragraph.

For further investor and media information contact:                                   
Andrew Haag                                                                        
Managing Partner
IRTH Communications         
[email protected]                                                                               
1-866-976-4784                                                                   

SOURCE Rightscorp