What is on-line Piracy?

Welcome to our discussion of on-line piracy. This twelve blog series is for a class project that we are undertaking at UNCC in Charlotte, NC. The contributors are Lloyd, Douglas, Curtis, Justin and Michael.

Throughout these postings we will present  information on on-line piracy that range from the social impact, the laws aimed at suppressing piracy, the reaction to these laws and some of the consequences of legislation.

We hope that you will follow along with us as we present these topics in what we hope will be a logical and meaningful manner.

So here we go.......

What is piracy? According to Dictionary.com, piracy is...

"(T)he unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc."

 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/piracy?s=t,

   

On-line piracy is making these reproductions by digital means. 

In this and future blogs, we will make reference to websites and videos that present both sides of the piracy wars. The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) as well as pharmaceuticals makers and the US Chamber of Commerce are strong supporters of strict and far reaching legislation aimed at shutting down violators of copyright infringements. Those opposed to strong legislation internet icons like Google, Wikipedia and Mozilla, stating that such legislation will infringe on the First Amendment's right to free speech and foster internet censorship.  Some of the legislation is SOPA, PIPA and the OPEN Act. The evidence for both positions will be presented later in the series.

We are going to visit topics of Fair Use and who decides what Fair Use is. We explore ethical responsibilities of individuals. Issues like what if you bought a 45 rpm record and wanted to store it on your Ipod? Ipods don't play records. You have paid the royalties, should you be able to download a digital copy for personal use? Suppose a recording is out of print? If you have to buy the recording on the secondary market, there is no royalties to the artist. Should you be able to download that for free? We will look for your feedback in future blogs.

We hope you will stay with us during the course of these twelve postings and provide your relevant feedback. This is a hot topic and strong evidence can be presented to justify any position you choose. One thing is clear to all parties concerned, something has to be done. We just need to find a common ground.

Next time: What does on-line piracy cost?

 

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