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History of internet piracy
History of internet piracy
History of internet piracy
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In recent years, internet piracy or "file sharing" of copyrighted material has gained much popularity. It is a topic that has incessantly sparked debate and has even received global attention. Although on the surface the act of file sharing may seem harmless, it is far from it. Each year, film and record production companies as well as software and video game development companies suffer from billions of dollars in lost profits. This loss comes as a direct result of internet piracy. Many agree that file sharing is unethical and consider it to be no different than downright theft. On the other hand, there are those that support file sharing and claim that their actions are easily justified and ethical. This essay will provide a brief overview and history of file sharing, will consider the arguments of each side, and will offer my personal observations and stance on the issue.
File sharing, put simply, is the process of making available and distributing files via the internet. Many freely developed applications have been made available that simplify this process, providing the ability to easily search for, download, and upload any piece of digital content imaginable. These applications are commonly referred to as P2P or peer-to-peer applications as they allow individuals (peers) to directly connect with other peers to share files. By themselves, such applications are useless; a central network must be available that allows each peer to see one another. These networks are typically hosted or paid for by the developers of the P2P application. Although P2P networks are probably the most common and accessible to the average internet user, there are a host of other applications and/or methods that provide the same services a...
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References
Norbert, J. M. (2004). Internet File Sharing: The Evidence So Far and What It Means for the Future. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.heritage.org/Research/InternetandTechnology/bg1790.cfm.
Powers, J. (2003). Copyright, Piracy and Personal Ethics. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.in3.org/articles/personalethics.htm.
Anti-Piracy. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from http://www.mpaa.org/piracy_internet.asp.
(Copyright). Retrieved April 12, 2007, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/copyright.
File sharing. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_sharing.
The Ethics of Piracy. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from http://cse.stanford.edu/class/cs201/projects-99-00/software-piracy/ethical.html.
Piracy. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.sandiego.gov/public-library/pctech/child/ethics/piracy.shtml.
Taking a global perspective, one must keep in mind that the term “copyright” is not universally defined, accepted, or enforced. We must therefore use the term with the United State’s definition as a basis. However, absent U.S. law, we must also consider the creator’s intent as it relates to the distribution and use of his or her work. This exploration will lead us to a universal position – one that claims that the wide-scale, free exchange of Intellectual Property by means of P2P technology is unethical.
However, despite the strong copyright policy and punishment of the United States Federal Copyright Act, as enforced by police as well as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), piracy still rages on, especially...
It is first beneficial to know the definition of piracy. Piracy has been characterized multiple ways from multiple disciplines. For the purpose of this paper, I will apply the definition of piracy from the 1982 United ...
A Worldwide Problem Software piracy is defined as the illegal copying of software for commercial or personal gain. Software companies have tried many methods to prevent piracy, with varying degrees of success. Several agencies like the Software Publishers Association and the Business Software Alliance have been formed to combat both worldwide and domestic piracy. Software piracy is an unresolved, worldwide problem, costing millions of dollars in lost revenue. Software companies have used many different copy protection schemes. The most annoying form of copy protection is the use of a key disk. This type of copy protection requires the user to insert the original disk every time the program is run. It can be quite difficult to keep up with disks that are years old. The most common technique of copy protection requires the user to look up a word or phrase in the program's manual. This method is less annoying than other forms of copy protection, but it can be a nuisance having to locate the manual every time. Software pirates usually have no trouble "cracking" the program, which permanently removes the copy protection. After the invention of CD-ROM, which until lately was uncopyable, most software companies stopped placing copy protection in their programs. Instead, the companies are trying new methods of disc impression. 3M recently developed a new technology of disc impression which allows companies to imprint an image on the read side of a CD-ROM. This technology would not prevent pirates from copying the CD, but it would make a "bootleg" copy differ from the original and make the copy traceable by law enforcement officials (Estes 89). Sometimes, when a person uses a pirated program, there is a "virus" attached to the program. Viruses are self-replicating programs that, when activated, can damage a computer. These viruses are most commonly found on pirated computer games, placed there by some malignant computer programmer. In his January 1993 article, Chris O' Malley points out that if piracy was wiped out viruses would eventually disappear (O' Malley 60). There are ways that a thrifty consumer can save money on software without resorting to piracy. Computer companies often offer discounts on new software if a person has previously purchased an earlier version of the software. Competition between companies also drives prices low and keeps the number of pirated copies down (Morgan 45). People eventually tire or outgrow their software and decide to sell it.
Schwartz, John. ?A Heretical View of File Sharing?. New York Times Online. 5 April 2004. URL: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30813
"4 Ways In Which Internet Piracy Can Be a Good Thing." MakeUseOf. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2014.
Peer-to-peer is a communications model in which each party has the same capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session. Other models with which it might be contrasted include the client/server model and the master/slave model. In some cases, peer-to-peer communications is implemented by giving each communication node both server and client capabilities. In recent usage, peer-to-peer has come to describe applications in which users can use the Internet to exchange files with each other directly or through a mediating server.
Although online file sharing debuted in 1999, lawmakers and copyright industries are just beginning to address the myriad questions the practice has generated. In At Issue: Internet Piracy, authors attempt to answer some of those questions.
On the demand side, the digital consumption of media products is accompanied by the emergence of digital piracy. Whilst copying had already been technically feasible during the era of video cassettes, it required certain equipment and piracy behaviour was limited (Waterman et al., 2007). The rise of the computer and World Wide Web, however, simplified the unauthorised duplication and storage of copyrighted content and caused movie piracy to soar substantially (Fetscherin, 2005). Digital piracy can generally occur offline (through the copying of discs and files) and online (through the downloading and sharing of files). A recent study revealed that approximately 24% of global internet traffic is copyright infringing, with peer-to-peer networks accounting for half of that amount (Envisional, 2011). Furthermore, internet piracy facilitates the sharing of movies during and even before their official theatrical release through either leaked insider copies or recordings in the cinema, which means that contemporary digital piracy affects all windows of the industry (Byers, 2003; Kwok, 2004).
paid for. The pirate has a set of excuses for his actions: prices are too high;
All of us know about the crimes committed every day by people all over the world. Theft, assault, grand theft auto, underage drinking, fraud, prostitution, and rape. But what about crimes on the internet? Last year, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) was introduced to the world. If this bill was passed, many sites would have to censor certain pieces of information, as well as remove a lot of the content already uploaded. SOPA would also crack down on terminating torrent sites, which are used to share files such as music, movies, video games, e-books, and whatever else is a digital file. In my opinion, SOPA should not be passed due to the fact that censoring information on the internet is an act against the first amendment. SOPA should not be passed due to the fact that it goes against the first amendment and will lead to a corrupt information sharing system.
The PC industry is just over 20 years old. In those 20 years, both the quality
The first reason why downloading and uploading copyrighted materials from the Internet should be legal is that downloading copyrighted materials positively affects the economy. The European Commission Joint Research Center reported that the profits of music companies would be 2% lower if uploading and downloading copyrighted materials were banned. However, music companies are able to acquire more profits despite illegal downloading because many people tend to purchase CDs or DVDs after watching or listening to copyrighted materials for free. Moreover, the research showed that people who download music illegally spent more money to buy music than people who did not download illegally. In addition, research conducted by the Swiss government informed that one-third of Swiss people downloaded copyrighted materials from the Internet because personal use of copyrighted materials is legal in Switzerland. Even though there is a fact that many people can download copyrighted materials from the Internet legally in Switzerland, the amount of money that people spend to buy copyrighted materials is not f...
All around the world people connected to the internet are downloading free digital content through P2P file sharing software.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a substitute network design to the conventional client-server architecture. P2P networks utilize a decentralised model in which each system, act as a peer, and serve as a client with its own layer of server functionality. A companion plays the role of a client and a server in the meantime. That is, the node can send calls to other nodes, and at the same time respond to approaching calls from other companions in the system. It is different from the traditional client-server model where a client can just send requests to a server and then wait for the server’s response.