This is the final blog in our series on online piracy. Thank you for following and leaving comments. The blogs and the project may be coming to a close, but the issue is not. Current and proposed legislation is likely to broaden the scope of what is considered copyright infringement and set precedents for heavy fines or worse for offenders.
There will always be the battle, however, of who will police the legislation and how far reaching do the regulations have to go before they infringe in the citizens constitutional rights to privacy. The RIAA and the MPAA still want deep legislation and the internet wants more of a self policing type of regulatory system.
Recent DMCA court cases have tended to favor the defendant in a manner that requires the party bringing the take-down notice to have a real and substantial reason for doing so. See Lenz v Universal here.
The internet is packed with arguments defending both sides of the political issue of how do deal with copyright infringement. The RIAA has an entire section of their website devoted to education about music piracy. YouTube is saturated with user videos about defending the right to a free internet. Some of which have been used in this series.
Here are a few extra things worth checking out........
The Artist Bill of Rights.... http://artists-bill-of-rights.org
Answers to copying for personal use....... http://www.lawguru.com/legal-questions/-/vhs-video-hold-proof-purchase-335845093/
Department of Justice court actions........... http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2013/01/04/6829199.htm
Trade wars and government intervention......http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/opinion/a-new-front-in-global-trade-wars.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&_r=0
and check out these case.......http://www.dmcahandbook.com
These links were extras that we came across in our research, but didn't really fit into any catagory of our outline.
Remember, pirates are the large corporations that steal software, they are the companies that steal movies and records and resell them, and they are the individuals who download music illegally.
Piracy will always be a problem in the same way as drug trafficking and illegal firearms sales. All we can hope to do is slow down the pirates, educate the users on the perils of using pirated goods (viruses and the like), and hope that legislators and enforcement agencies deal out punishment that is justifiable and commensurate to the degree of the infringement.
Kid Rock Piracy PSA
WARNING: This video contains language that might be offensive to some viewers.
We covered who the pirates are, what is being pirated, and legislative attempts to curb piracy. We outlined and provided you with an avenue to report piracy and some of the pitfalls of using pirated goods. We brought to you some of the injustices like Aaron Schwartz and some of the protests like Google and Wikipedia.
In the end, whether you download music for free or if you are selling stolen copies of Avatar, you are hurting the economy to some degree and risking damage to your hardware and face fines and hard time.
You make the choice.
Thank you for reading and commenting on our blogs.
Justin, Lloyd, Doug, Michael and Curtis
With a criminal history and not so nice song lyrics, Kid Rock is probably not the best person to call others out for their behavior. I do however agree with the interesting way he approached this issue. Having had my own copyrighted material stolen and reused for someone else gain it does need to be addressed.
ReplyDeleteI do take issue with your statements about drug trafficking and illegal firearm sales. No one dies because their music or software was pirated. This is the part of the conversation that seems to have gotten out of control. I have listen to both sides of the pirating and legislation issue. The rhetoric comparing pirating to larger, scarier problems that are associated with killing hundreds maybe thousands each year is not appropriate. It is a horrible scare tactic used to convinced people that don't understand the issue to jump onboard with legislation that; in my opinion, is the equivalent of using a tank to swat a fly and leaves the government with a blank check to monitor who they want.
I no way intended to imply that illegal downloading was as serious as drug trafficking or illegal gun sales. The analogy is that it is equally out of control and that no matter how tight the restrictions, no matter how deep the legislation the best that can be hoped for is to slow it down. The weights are different but the scale is the same.
DeleteI am not in favor of far reaching legislation that gives unlimited power to ANY enforcement agency, whether it be the DOJ or anyone else. I am also not in favor of a completely free internet where users and servers can run free and hack and pirate anything they want with incrimination. There must be a happy medium and short of both sides giving some ground, there will always be an impasse.
I apologize for any misleading statements. Thank you for your comments.