This will backfire independently of the political or security justifications. Many Chinese scientists were put under surveillance, stripped off their academic positions and faced deportation during Red Scare, and this directly contributed to China’s nuclear and space program.

Emphasis on “in some cases, these unauthorized copies are the only record of a given play”. This already happened with radio/television, and will happen with all sort of digital media as future historians scramble to study the late 20th century and early 21st century’s internet culture.