contemporary issues
Internet Piracy
Mason Brown illustration by Hannah Swann According to United States law there is a price on my head of upwards of $300,000. I have broken both domestic and international laws in the comfort of my living room. I have never robbed a bank, illegally distributed narcotics, or held dog fights in my home. My crime is far worse in the eyes of many businesses. My crime is illegally downloading copies of Mona Lisa Smile. Now, I know you all cringed upon reading that line. The crime is brutal and clearly unacceptable but I’m not alone here. Millions of people all over the world pirate movies, music, games and software for the low cost of... free. Piracy is cheap, easy and intuitive to even the most basic of users. The laws surrounding piracy, however, are not as clear. Due to an old copyright policy crafted before the age of the Internet and business’s ability to strong arm policy via lobbying, the laws and protections surrounding piracy are foggy at best. Piracy is illegal in 9 out of 10 cases. 16
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Like it or not, when you down load that copy of season six of Sex in the City, you are taking content that you do not own and defending yourself by attributing the copy to friend in Hong Kong. That will not hold up in court. While sharing of media is technically legal, doing so over the Internet is considered illegal by many companies, thus making it a shaky operation. While it would be easier to lend your friend a CD through a torrent site, the US government is currently run by people who do not quite understand the workings of the Internet and see this transaction as trouble. Although most people have pirated simply because it’s free and unlikely you will get caught, there are greater implications at hand. Besides the ridiculous fines one can face for such pirating, the ripple effect of widespread piracy can be harmful. As a school with such a strong art student population, it should be easy to understand why an artist would not want their works taken without proper
compensation. Many people think that pirating a song is fairly innocent crime since it is only “a song” but the widespread nature of piracy has not only hurt the entire music production process but also forced companies (such as Apple) to force crippling technology known as DRM. Digital Rights Management, or DRM, is a technology placed into files such as songs and movies that make the file protected from piracy by preventing things like sharing. While at the surface this may make sense as an approach to fight back against the pirates, this technology actually hampers the ease of use of the product. Ever tried moving itunes music out of itunes? It’s almost impossible without 3rd party means. Ever tried to get your itunes library on another computer? You can’t without transferring songs and their respective licenses. What is a license you say? Well, welcome to the future of digital marketplaces. Due to the company