The Illegal Distribution of Copyrighted Materials Must be Stopped

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There is a growing problem on the Internet with people infringing on the intellectual property rights of their rightful owners. The copying of such property goes back some time, starting in the 1500’s, and has continued until today. Lots of people do not care about rules on the Internet, doing whatever they wish to do, or they just do not care. There are numerous solutions to this problem; some of them involving increased monitoring of the Internet. The illegal downloading and distribution of copyrighted materials on the Internet should be more closely monitored and punished by the government, ensuring that the intellectual property rights of their owners are not violated. There is a long history of intellectual property rights, as it was “Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, developed around 1450, that made books quickly available at a reasonable cost”, that made writers begin to worry about their books being distributed without their permission., and therefore they would not make the profits from usual sales (Cushman). Fast forward some years, to the late twentieth century, when a “two-part invention, the computer and the Internet, had a similar impact as the printing press”, enabling people to simply copy and share files, as on the Internet all forms of media are composed of binary code, ensuring that all electronic devices can read them (Cushman). To help protect these copyrights, the World Intellectual Property Organization was created in 1967 by NATO to replace the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property which was an agency that was created to observe the Berne Convention which is an international agreement to recognize patents. The problem of intellectual property theft on the Intern... ... middle of paper ... ...itical Economy of Intellectual Property." SIRS Issues researcher. N.p., Jan. 2003. Web. 19 Feb. 2014. cgi-bin/ hst-article-display?id=SMN0129-0-1703&artno=0000166503&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=In tellectual%20property%20rights&title=The%20Political%20Economy%20of%20Intellectua l%20Property&res=Y&ren=N&gov=N&lnk=N&ic=N>. Recording Industry Association of America. "Scope of the Problem." RIAA. RIAA, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2014. physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=piracy-online-scope-of-the-problem>. World Intellectual Property Organization. "The Impact of the Internet on Intellectual Property Law." World Intellectual Property Organization. World Intellectual Property Organization, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2014. .

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