Parasitic technology is any technology that permits consumers to get something for nothing, or "break the linkage between usage and payment". Stan Liebowitz, who introduced the term, cites TiVo as a parasitic technology for allowing consumers to "skip" commercials, thus avoiding "paying" for the shows they are watching and so adds no value to the entertainment industry. Another example is filesharing, which he calls "the reigning king of parasitic technologies."
James Delong supports Liebowitz' definition. Others, such as find that Liebowitz conflates resistance to marketing with theft of property rights and objects to Liebowitz's arguments regarding the TiVo player as trivializing a legitimate concern with theft of property rights.
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