An official definition of internet piracy is Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) of unauthorized or prohibited use of works covered by copyright law, in a way that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works. In other words Internet piracy refers to the use of the Internet for illegally copying or distributing unauthorized software. The offenders may use the Internet for all or some of their operations including the advertising, offering, acquiring, or distribution of pirated software.
In today’s day and age people use the internet to illegally download anything that you can possibly think of; music, movies, T.V. shows, music videos, games, and even papers used for academic purposes. In my opinion it is getting pretty ridiculous. When internet piracy first started becoming really popular it wasn’t nearly as extreme as it is today. It was usually only a song here and there that people were downloading. Now, not only can people download entire albums, but you can get the artwork from the album and a copy of all the lyrics in the same download. If you go to the right site, you can download movies that are still in theaters and the quality of the movie usually isn’t that bad. Personally the first internet piracy website I can remember is Napster. To my knowledge this was the first web site of its kind and anyone and everyone who had a computer and internet could download it then start downloading music. Napster was developed by a 19 year old college student named Sean Fanning. He saw a need for space on the internet where people could search and share files. He knew that most people had lots of files on their computer’s hard drives that were going unused. Why not share these files with other users who might enjoy them or otherwise find some use for them? A few years later, and with the help of his uncle, Napster was created. When the music industry started to catch on to people sharing these music files people started to get concerned. Several high profile music artists, including the band Metallica filed law suits against Napster for copy right infringement, forever ending the legal glory days of free music downloading. Napster still exists today you just have to pay a monthly fee.
No matter how hard the high profile people of whatever try to stop internet piracy it will always be there. Sites like Lime wire, pirate bay, and Music Oasis are out there where you can search and download all kinds of files illegally but free. However, a few months ago Lime Wire did receive a court order to shut down although I’m not sure what happened with it or if it is still working. I think that no matter what they do there is always going to be another way or another site to download stuff off the internet. Not only is there the fear of getting caught and fined for downloading stuff off the internet, but you never know what you are about to put in your computer when you download a file that you have no idea what is in it. It could be some kind of virus or something else that will do bad things to your computer. At first I thought the artist of the music were the ones to lose from internet piracy. But after reading the assignment from Music and Culture I think the people of the music industry are the ones that lose because they have the most to lose. If anything I think it gives the artists more exposure because people who can’t afford to go out and buy their cds can listen to their music from the internet.
Hey great blog, I really enjoyed reading it this week.
ReplyDeleteThe definition you gave for internet piracy was really good and it had all the correct information you can think of. I agree with you that music piracy is everywhere. Now people can go to their own computers and download anything they want, it could be music, movies TV shows almost anything you can think of. I remember when I was smaller the only thing that people were downloading from the internet were a couple of songs now and then, but now people download everything. Some people even make a business out of this, they will download movies without paying the people who created the movies and sell them on the street and they gain all the profits. I also agree that the music industry loses a lot more than anyone else, but I also feel like the music artist also lose because now people can download there music for free and the artist won’t get paid for all the hard work that they have put into it. Sure they will get more fans, but no one will ever know how many fans a music artist really has if most people download there music for free.
I like the points that you brought up in your bog. While mostly everyone else wrote about who was greatly influenced or hurt by pirating, you actually provided background information about it and discussed how it has progressed over the years. I have always known that pirating was a popular thing it kind of goes hand to hand with the internet, but I was unaware of how ramped pirating has actually become. I had no idea that one can download an entire album off a site. I always presumed that with all the regulations out there only one or maybe two songs were able to be downloaded at a time that is a bit crazy. I guess that is why so many regulations and law suits are out there to begin with. I also like the definition that you gave of pirating. In that one paragraph, you summed up everything that pirating is all about. I know that pirating is illegal and could potentially lead to major fines and even imprisonment but I feel that these regulations and fines are a bit of an over kill. It is the music industries that are enforcing these regulations because they are the ones losing the most but I feel that eventually there will not be a need for them because of iTunes and other music sites were one can buy music legally.
ReplyDeleteThe definition that you gave for internet piracy is very precise and to the point. I would maybe let it expand a little past the direct definition, as most of the pirating is not for reproduction, but rather personal use. As far as I know, Lime Wire is still around, but it is on the same level as napster, where you can listen, but there is a fee for downloading a version that can be loaded onto a mobile device or put on a CD. I am against piracy for the most part, although I have to admit that there was one album that I could not find online or in any stores, so I was forced to download it. The story that I hear from most people regarding music downloads is that they are simply backing up the music collection that they have acquired over the years. I am all for backing up (I have lost thousands of songs thanks to iTunes crashing and wiping my library) but that is no excuse to go out and straight up steal the music. The way I see it is if you already have the music, then you don’t need to re-download it in order to back it up. I know that I can go on an hour long rant with everyone I meet about how piracy hurts the musicians and it won’t make a difference. There are just too many ways to get music for free, and everyone is out there to get free stuff. Granted, there are some out there that still pay, but we are a dying breed.
ReplyDeleteInternet piracy as you mentioned do cost the music industry most, here is my idea. Of course, since they are the ones who put up all the resource to produce those CDs to the final stage. However let see from the musician’s side, let’s put ourselves in their shoes. Imagine you are a musician you have thrived, struggled, have put up all of your time, your money and your talent for the best result of the product. With all the hassle the final product reached to the intended audience, where Mr. Sneaky has the access for copying, duplicating and sharing easily with the click of a button. The sold out definitely will dry, the image given to the musician by the industry will be hampered. Imagine the psychological damage; let’s forget the financial and the image created on them. Copyright law partially may solve the problem, however in the era of wide area network who can afford to trace, to distract and penalize. As consumers we should know how we are hurting creative work, the industry and the economy.
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