Hi guys! In this page, we will be sharing reviews of articles we have done concerning Internet Piracy, so as to help widen your understanding of the different aspects of internet piracy as well as proving true the threat that internet piracy poses.
Literature Review 1 - Will blocking access to some sites solve piracy?
“the film industry is losing almost $ 959 million and 5,177 jobs to piracy every year. “
“The software industry loses $10 billion annually to piracy, according to consultancy firm Zinnov. “
Are these numbers not startling. Billions are lost to the growing threat of internet piracy and jobs are being sucked into the empty void that piracy has created.
“According to D'Souza, the music industry is the worst hit. The sector can monetise only 10 per cent of its contents while the rest 90 per cent is lost to piracy.''
With only 10% of profits coming in, how is the music industry going to survive? This shows the extent of the damage inflicted by internet piracy. Music lovers have to sympathise. Just for convenience and to save money, one falls short of supporting the music industry, the very industry that produces the music that we enjoy. Just for a person’s own selfish needs, the next generation may not witness yet another era of quality music.
“The software industry loses $10 billion annually to piracy, according to consultancy firm Zinnov. “
Are these numbers not startling. Billions are lost to the growing threat of internet piracy and jobs are being sucked into the empty void that piracy has created.
“According to D'Souza, the music industry is the worst hit. The sector can monetise only 10 per cent of its contents while the rest 90 per cent is lost to piracy.''
With only 10% of profits coming in, how is the music industry going to survive? This shows the extent of the damage inflicted by internet piracy. Music lovers have to sympathise. Just for convenience and to save money, one falls short of supporting the music industry, the very industry that produces the music that we enjoy. Just for a person’s own selfish needs, the next generation may not witness yet another era of quality music.
Literature Review 2 - With SOPA shelved, anti-piracy advocates take new approaches
“After five or six alerts that their account appears to have been used to download content illegally, the ISP could take measures including temporarily throttling (i.e. dramatically slowing down) Internet speed, redirecting users to a Web page asking them to contact their provider or other measures.”
This shows a good measure to counter the problem of internet piracy as it is aimed at the individual. What is the use of shutting down illegal sites if the mind-sets of the “pirates” have not altered? If they still believe that nothing is wrong with them engaging in internet piracy then they will find another way to get the illegal material they are looking for. One site is shut down, another appears
in its place.
This shows a good measure to counter the problem of internet piracy as it is aimed at the individual. What is the use of shutting down illegal sites if the mind-sets of the “pirates” have not altered? If they still believe that nothing is wrong with them engaging in internet piracy then they will find another way to get the illegal material they are looking for. One site is shut down, another appears
in its place.
Literature Review 3 - Overkill on Internet Piracy
This article shows that although the laws are targeted at curbing internet piracy, the fact remains that sites that are innocent may be compromised and be wrongly accused when they are not responsible of the material posted by its users.For example, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter could be shut down due to user-generated content that might be seen as the sharing of copyrighted material. This would be very unfair to the millions of other innocent users on these sites that would be affected just by the mistakes of one of its users.
Literature Review 4 - Online piracy: Rights and Wronged
“Critics of the bill say that takedown requests and court orders will swamp smaller firms and start-ups. They say that blocking entire websites via their domain name smacks of censorship, and that determined downloaders will anyway find the block easy to bypass.”
The fact remains that not all laws formed will be absolutely perfect and therefore we should not only rely on existent and future laws, but also try to reach out to the audience and raise awareness about internet piracy. Piracy would not be piracy if there is no audience or supporters to fuel its growth.
Another thing we have to be careful of is censorship as this is a touchy subject. The methods of curbing internet piracy such as the implementation of the laws may turn into censorship which would have an adverse effect on the internet community. However if we were to target the people and not the internet, we can bypass this possible problem of censorship.
The fact remains that not all laws formed will be absolutely perfect and therefore we should not only rely on existent and future laws, but also try to reach out to the audience and raise awareness about internet piracy. Piracy would not be piracy if there is no audience or supporters to fuel its growth.
Another thing we have to be careful of is censorship as this is a touchy subject. The methods of curbing internet piracy such as the implementation of the laws may turn into censorship which would have an adverse effect on the internet community. However if we were to target the people and not the internet, we can bypass this possible problem of censorship.
Literature Review 5 - The ethics of internet piracy
“I asked the 300 students in my ethics class which of them had not downloaded something from the internet, knowing or suspecting that they were violating copyright. Only five or six hands went up.”
This is a very worrying trend, with internet users having such a nonchalant attitude to the gravity of internet piracy, there will soon be no order whatsoever in the technological world, everything that artists produced will be replicated over and over again without their knowledge and the entertainment industry will be severely affected.
"Dotcom's lawyer claims that Megaupload was merely providing storage for its subscribers' files, and had no control over what they were storing. But Megaupload offered cash rewards to users who uploaded files that proved popular with other users.”
Although p2p file sharing sites such as Megaupload have no control over the doings of their subscribers, by offering incentives such as cash rewards to users who upload files which are on demand, they are encouraging acts of internet piracy, as these files will most probably be copyright material with so many people wanting to get their hands on it.
“We need to find a way to maximise the truly amazing potential of the internet, while properly rewarding creators.”
This is the utopia for the usage of the internet. With users appreciating the efforts in which original creators have put in in producing their products, what they do is for a living, internet piracy is stealing, just that it’s worse, as not many can be tracked down for their vile acts.
This is a very worrying trend, with internet users having such a nonchalant attitude to the gravity of internet piracy, there will soon be no order whatsoever in the technological world, everything that artists produced will be replicated over and over again without their knowledge and the entertainment industry will be severely affected.
"Dotcom's lawyer claims that Megaupload was merely providing storage for its subscribers' files, and had no control over what they were storing. But Megaupload offered cash rewards to users who uploaded files that proved popular with other users.”
Although p2p file sharing sites such as Megaupload have no control over the doings of their subscribers, by offering incentives such as cash rewards to users who upload files which are on demand, they are encouraging acts of internet piracy, as these files will most probably be copyright material with so many people wanting to get their hands on it.
“We need to find a way to maximise the truly amazing potential of the internet, while properly rewarding creators.”
This is the utopia for the usage of the internet. With users appreciating the efforts in which original creators have put in in producing their products, what they do is for a living, internet piracy is stealing, just that it’s worse, as not many can be tracked down for their vile acts.
Literature Review 6 - A California Civil War Over Internet Piracy
"What is the key element is that a movie or a television show or a song or a book is actually someone's property,"
This is very true indeed, we cannot emphasis the importance of regconition and respect for the work of others. With the ease in which file sharing can be done over the world wide web, people are losing sight of their values, they forget who are those who put in heart and sweat to make these shows, songs or movies possible to the audience to enjoy. Piracy is the unconditionaly pillage of others’ intellectual property!
“But he's got to pay his bills. So he was not happy when he saw his film up on the Internet for free before it was even released. "It can make you cry, as a filmmaker. It can make you cry. I mean, all of that work," Chey says.”
This is coming from a professional film maker, Tim Chey. For him to make such an emotional statement shows how strongly Internet Piracy affects these artists who produce their work purely for art. However, they must also confine to reality in the sense that they have to pay their bills, for the equipments they used in the production of the film for example. The only way to encourage them to keep producing is to respect their work through the righteous act of paying.
This is very true indeed, we cannot emphasis the importance of regconition and respect for the work of others. With the ease in which file sharing can be done over the world wide web, people are losing sight of their values, they forget who are those who put in heart and sweat to make these shows, songs or movies possible to the audience to enjoy. Piracy is the unconditionaly pillage of others’ intellectual property!
“But he's got to pay his bills. So he was not happy when he saw his film up on the Internet for free before it was even released. "It can make you cry, as a filmmaker. It can make you cry. I mean, all of that work," Chey says.”
This is coming from a professional film maker, Tim Chey. For him to make such an emotional statement shows how strongly Internet Piracy affects these artists who produce their work purely for art. However, they must also confine to reality in the sense that they have to pay their bills, for the equipments they used in the production of the film for example. The only way to encourage them to keep producing is to respect their work through the righteous act of paying.
Literature Review 7 - Megaupload lawyers move to kill U.S. internet piracy charges
"Papers have been filed stating that U.S. federal authorities cannot charge the company with criminal behavior because it is Hong Kong based"
The sites which are found guilty of encouraging or engaging in acts of internet piracy are being more evasive by the day. As only america have a strict law to protect the intellectual property of original artists, these companies in charge of the websites base themselves overseas so as to escape the charges filed by the FBI or the US government.
"The law here in the United States is that you can't indict and then serve a company that does not have a presence in the United States,"
This shows how hard it is to close down these file sharing sites, which is precisely why draconian means such as the SOPA and PIPA acts will not address such a broad problem such as internet piracy. This will only lead to more protests on the website's part as well as those who support internet piracy. It is our onus to try to stop this problem and if we do not download illegally from these sites, they will close down naturally as they do not get any profit from advertisers who use their site as a tool to reach out to the many users who frequently visit the sites.
"The FBI claims founder Kim Dotcom masterminded a scheme that made more than $175 million in a few short years by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorization."
Internet piracy is certainly damaging the economy, especially those which are connected to the entertainment industry. The illegal produce of copyrighted works of others are drastically affecting the profits of the artists, who are not getting the credit which is due for the efforts they put in making the product.
The sites which are found guilty of encouraging or engaging in acts of internet piracy are being more evasive by the day. As only america have a strict law to protect the intellectual property of original artists, these companies in charge of the websites base themselves overseas so as to escape the charges filed by the FBI or the US government.
"The law here in the United States is that you can't indict and then serve a company that does not have a presence in the United States,"
This shows how hard it is to close down these file sharing sites, which is precisely why draconian means such as the SOPA and PIPA acts will not address such a broad problem such as internet piracy. This will only lead to more protests on the website's part as well as those who support internet piracy. It is our onus to try to stop this problem and if we do not download illegally from these sites, they will close down naturally as they do not get any profit from advertisers who use their site as a tool to reach out to the many users who frequently visit the sites.
"The FBI claims founder Kim Dotcom masterminded a scheme that made more than $175 million in a few short years by copying and distributing music, movies and other copyrighted content without authorization."
Internet piracy is certainly damaging the economy, especially those which are connected to the entertainment industry. The illegal produce of copyrighted works of others are drastically affecting the profits of the artists, who are not getting the credit which is due for the efforts they put in making the product.
Literature Review 8 - Online Piracy is a Problem
“This whole industry is making their money without the actual creators of the content receiving a single dime of those profits.”
This clearly portrays the extent in which internet piracy affects the world’s economy. The theft of intellectual property due to internet piracy costs entertainment industries around the world billions of dollars every year. People who make a living because they are able to sell creative works to others, such as video game creators are unable to get any pay and profit from their job due to internet piracy, which distributes pirated content to other users over the internet, thus showing how internet piracy affects the daily lives of people.
“You create something, and you get paid for it.”
This is suppose to be the ideal situation in which original creators get paid for their what they do. However, this is no longer the case due to the increasing trend of internet piracy nowadays, where their works are shared freely around the web without their consent, causing their work to lose its value.
This clearly portrays the extent in which internet piracy affects the world’s economy. The theft of intellectual property due to internet piracy costs entertainment industries around the world billions of dollars every year. People who make a living because they are able to sell creative works to others, such as video game creators are unable to get any pay and profit from their job due to internet piracy, which distributes pirated content to other users over the internet, thus showing how internet piracy affects the daily lives of people.
“You create something, and you get paid for it.”
This is suppose to be the ideal situation in which original creators get paid for their what they do. However, this is no longer the case due to the increasing trend of internet piracy nowadays, where their works are shared freely around the web without their consent, causing their work to lose its value.
Literature Review 9 - Protection or protectionism?
Source: The ethics of Internet piracy Feb 13, 2012 by Peter Singer(TODAY)
“ violations of copyright on the internet cost the US 100,000 jobs”
This shows the extent of the damage caused and that can only increase as the internet pulls in more users. The economy of all high-technological companies would also suffer as there are lesser jobs available.
“ A user fee could pay for it, and if the fee were low enough, the incentives to use pirated copies would diminish ”
This is a possible solution but it would not be feasible. To pay for things on the internet, one has to go through troublesome steps such as the entering of the credit card code etc. (most youths do not even have credit cards)
“everyone does it”
This mindset has to change. We have to show them how each of them can set an example for their classmates so that in time to come, no one would do it. Jumping on the bandwagon is doing without thinking.
“ violations of copyright on the internet cost the US 100,000 jobs”
This shows the extent of the damage caused and that can only increase as the internet pulls in more users. The economy of all high-technological companies would also suffer as there are lesser jobs available.
“ A user fee could pay for it, and if the fee were low enough, the incentives to use pirated copies would diminish ”
This is a possible solution but it would not be feasible. To pay for things on the internet, one has to go through troublesome steps such as the entering of the credit card code etc. (most youths do not even have credit cards)
“everyone does it”
This mindset has to change. We have to show them how each of them can set an example for their classmates so that in time to come, no one would do it. Jumping on the bandwagon is doing without thinking.
Literature Review 10 - Protection or protectionism?
Source: [Protection or protectionism?] , from The Straits Times “IN” (27/02/12) by: Elsen Teo( targeted at youths) “IN is a special newpaper”
This article presents both sides of the argument
“Copyright theft robs artists and businesses of their livelihood” (estimated :billions)
We agree and we want to bring across the message that eventually if this continues, the economy would topple as media and other goods would not be produced( the consumers(us) suffer too as we lose a huge source of entertainment
Another quote: “unfairly hold websites responsible for what their users post on them(referring to the laws Sopa and Pipa)”
This is arguable as websites have to be responsible for what their users post or upload as they are able to control the data being transferred in and out. ( they can set guidelines)
This article presents both sides of the argument
“Copyright theft robs artists and businesses of their livelihood” (estimated :billions)
We agree and we want to bring across the message that eventually if this continues, the economy would topple as media and other goods would not be produced( the consumers(us) suffer too as we lose a huge source of entertainment
Another quote: “unfairly hold websites responsible for what their users post on them(referring to the laws Sopa and Pipa)”
This is arguable as websites have to be responsible for what their users post or upload as they are able to control the data being transferred in and out. ( they can set guidelines)