"Chapter 4 Intellectual Property: (Part 1: Intro) "Steal this Film II

Name Brittany Murphy                                                                                             Class time: 11

Author:

Date of Publication:

Film: Steal This Film

Sections read:

1.       (Questioning) After reading this chapter/article what relevant questions do I have?

How is The Pirate Bay able to survive when servers such as Napster have been shut down?

2.       (Knowledge)Tell three interesting elements of this chapter:

a.    The laws in Sweden allowed for The Pirate Bay to be hosted there.      

b.  There has been a 47% decrease in music sales.       

c.   Law enforcement has been faced with the awkward situation of arresting teenagers for illegal downloads.

3.       (Comprehension) Summarize what is being discussed within this chapter?

This issue being discussed in the “Steal This Film” video is that the ease of data sharing is resulting in profit losses from the corporations and people that produce them. For example, the Hollywood industry paid private investigators to investigate The Pirate Bay site as they are hosting a site where people are able to post links to files to be downloaded. The problem with that is that is that the content being distributed is not always legal.At this point I would like to call your attention to a video log by Chris Pirillo, speaking about the dangers inherent with file sharing.

As Chris was describing, there are legal torrents and there are illegal torrents and it is important that the user is aware what they are downloading as to not infringe on any of the copyright laws discussed in “Steal This Film”.

4.       (Connections) How does one element in this article specifically relate to Postman (or at times I will ask you to compare to a different article read in class- edit as appropriate)?

Postman said that there are winners and losers in every new piece of technology developed.  As for file sharing, the winners and the losers are not so clear as a result of the differing interests of people. For example, an Indie artist would be happy to have their work on a file sharing website and may even post it there themselves; while an established pop artists attempting to sell tracks and albums would not want their work available for free download. The losers in the latter situation are the artist, the record label and all others who depend on the purchase of those tracks to continue doing business, the winner in the latter situation would be the consumer as it allows them the ability to obtain free music.
 

5.       (Application) Name a specific example or NEW solution for this type of problem/similar situation in society or that you have experienced – be specific and explain?

      Napster was a peer to peer file sharing network that allowed for the transfer of music files that utilized the computers of other users to connect people to their desired music files. Napster has since been put out of business as a result of lawsuits by artist that were angry at the profit losses they were facing as a result of Napster. Now, Napster is a legal company that hosts a pay for download policy. The Pirate Bay has come under similar attacks but was originally able to escape because of their ability to host in Sweden and the different Swedish laws. In 2013 though, they were forced to begin hosting in Denmark and Spain and sever ties with the Swedish Pirate Party.

6.       (Analysis) Compare one of the situations in this chapter/reading to something that does not relate to computers, technology, or the Internet? Be sure to reference the chapter and your solution. What ideas NEW can you add to the issue that is being presented within the reading?

Illegal file-sharing is similar to to walking into a store and stealing a shirt. In both situations the producer of the good is losing money, while the new owner is gaining something of value to them. Both of these situations are ethically wrong, as something is being taken without any sort of barter. The Pirate Bay provides an outlet for people to steal goods, and others provide the goods to be stolen. 

7.       (Synthesis) Address all that apply. Do you agree with what is being said within the article (Why/Why not? Back up with FACTS, reference)?

I agree with the video as it is important to consider your actions and the effect that they may have on others. In the beginning of the film they showed people aside from the actors and actresses that depend on you purchasing a film, and that is a very valid point.

 If you look at the above chart, the vast majority of people is at the very lease sharing their music files with family members and on average 15%  of people share music files with P2P file-sharing networks. There obviously needs to be a change in the system, whether it involves a change in the music industry profit methods or law officials need to change their methods of catching and prosecution. 

8.       (Evaluation) Address all that apply. Judge whether or not this topic is relevant in today’s society? Are there any ethical considerations (see Chap1-1.4 for exp of Ethics)?  What new ideas will you make after reading this chapter/article?

The topic of file sharing is relevant to today’s society as it is becoming increasingly more popular and is being closely watched by the Attorney General. In fact many colleges are also informing students that they will be punished if caught in an infringement case. Buffalo State College states in their piece about copyright infringement that they receive notice almost every day about infringement that happens on the network. Ethically this poses multiple challenges, first and foremost there is the fact that by participating in illegal file sharing one is stealing. Second, law officials face the decisions of having to arrest and prosecute teenagers that may not have known what they were participating in. Immediately after watching this video I made sure I did not have any P2P programs on my laptop, as I had purchased it from my brother. Before watching Steal This Film, I never considered the consequences for participating in illegal file sharing, or the consequences for those that depend on the purchase of their goods. 

9.       (Conclusion) After completing this assignment, based on new thoughts and evidence

a.        What new conclusions have you come to about this topic ?

I never realized the scope of the problem until watching this film and the further research I completed after. For example, from 2004 to 2009 there have been over 30 billion illegal music downloads. As a result in a decrease of paid for music, there has been a 47% decrease in music sales. The music industry either needs to adapt and find a new profit driver, or authorities need to be given the capital to crack down on the illegal downloads.

10.   Below restate your questions from #1 and include the  answer based on your new conclusions.

How is The Pirate Bay able to survive when servers such as Napster?

The Pirate Bay is sure to keep the servers for their company in countries that do not have laws to enforce on illegal file sharing networks. Since they ran into trouble in Sweden, they moved their servers to Denmark and Spain in order to remain operational. 

References:
Below, include any additional web reference that you include on your blog, including any websites or video.

http://www.buffalostate.edu/cts/x869.xml
http://www.riaa.com/faq.php
http://www.howstuffworks.com/napster.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=119627