pp.
The illegal copying of software and digital music.
Example Citation:
Bitlegging (v): Downloading copyright-protected digital music files from the net. As illegal as bootlegging, but the sound quality is better.
— "Tech talk," Management Today, October 31, 2002
Earliest Citation:
MP3.com makes available free, legal MP3 files from artists wanting the exposure. Visit the music section www.mp3.com/music/: http://www.mp3.com/. Of course, downloading a ripped-off version of, say, the All Saints' Never Ever is the digital equivalent of bootlegging (bitlegging?).
— John Graham-Cumming, "Living with the Net: Make your PC really sing," The Guardian (London), March 11, 1999
Notes:
American Dialect Society member Grant Barrett alerted me to this blend of bit and bootlegging.
Related Words:
Categories:
New words. 2013.