KEEP THIS TO 1-3 – PAGES LONG (EXCLUDING REFERENCE PAGE)
Author: Sara Baase
Date of Publication: 2008
Book: A Gift of Fire
Sections read: 4.1 – 4.3.2
1. (Knowledge)Tell three interesting elements of this chapter:
a. A copyright is something that protects creative works (books, songs, software, etc), and doesn’t need to be applied for; it always applies to intellectual property (Baase, 198).
b. Piracy is a billion dollar industry that copies this property illegally, and also deals with “cracks” for property with copyright protection (Baase, 202).
c. The fair-use doctrine allows the use of copyrighted material that contributes to the creation of a new piece of work that isn’t likely to deprive the author of their income; fair uses are for “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarships and research” (Baase, 206).
2. (Comprehension) Summarize what is being discussed within this chapter?
Copyrights protect creative works of people who decide to publish them. One can also apply for a patent which protects software and allows them to be the publisher for a set amount of years (Baase, 198). These are mainly to protect the compensation that publisher deserves. The public domain is when a copyright expires, meaning its information is available to all the public (Baase, 199). In general, it was meant to protect creative expression. With the invention of CDs/DVDs, scanners and whatnot, copying this info has become much easier (Baase, 201). New digital technology gives us the power to both be copyrighters and to infringe upon others (Baase, 202). Piracy – high volume, unauthorized copying of digital property – has been made much easier in the past decade, and is a billion dollar industry (Baase, 202). Of course, with new technology copyright laws constantly need to be amended. The No Electronic Theft Act of 1997 made it illegal to distribute and copies of something worth over 1,000 dollars and distributed within 6 months. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 prohibits circumventing copyright protection systems, and also protects web sites if they try to remove illegal material (Baase, 204). This is controversial, as it outlaws software that may otherwise have legitimate purposes. The fair-use doctrine allowed use of copyrighted material that wouldn’t deprive the publisher of the income they deserve. It also gave 4 factors to consider – The purpose and nature of its use, the nature of the original work, the amount and significance of the portion used, and the effect on the market and original work’s value (Baase, 206). In Sony v. Universal City Studios, Sony was sued because people used Sony’s Betamax cassettes to tape programs on TV; because it was for noncommercial, private uses, Sony won the case (Baase, 208). Napster wasn’t so lucky; they were sued for providing the transfer of unauthorized songs, resulting in a negative impact of music sales. Napster lost the case and shut down (Baase, 209-211). In MGM v. Grokster, movie studios sued Grokster and StreamCast, owners of a widely known peer-to-peer network, however they only provided the software, not the actual files to download, and in doing so also served a legitimate purpose. Distribution of file sharing software is legal, but companies can still sue these software publishers if they chose to do so (Baase, 211). While companies use many measures to stop unauthorized copying (dongles, serial numbers, etc), people found this extraneous, and others nevertheless found ways to “crack” it. The Business Software Alliance “polices” the internet for pirates, and has since busted many companies for pirated software (Baase, 213). Digital Rights Management (DRM) gives publishers many ways to protect their property, however there are many issues with how well it works (one being DRM movies won’t run on Linux), and people can still “crack” it if desired (Baase, 216-217). DeCSS was created to let DRM-protected movies run on Linux, and while people used it to illegally distribute material, it is still deemed legal for that reason alone (Baase, 218). As technology expands it gets even harder for companies to protect what is theirs, and see conflict through the entire process.
3. (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?
One case that pertains to this that is still fairly fresh is that of thepiratebay.org. The Pirate Bay is one of the leading peer-to-peer sites on the internet to date, and accounts for a lot of the piracy issues on the web. Similar to Napster, The Pirate Bay provides the source for pirates to download music, games, software, and more. While they did nothing to take it off the site, all four owners were taken to trial and received guilty verdicts of a year and prison and astronomical fines. People view this case with caution, as they believe this will only create more trials and make it more complex a situation than it needs to be. Nevertheless, thepiratebay.org is still up and running as of today despite these rulings (More information can be found here - http://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-trial-the-verdict-090417/).
4. (Analysis)Address ANY that apply. How can you compare one of the situations in this chapter 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? Try to connect what you have by reading this article and how it applies to the stages in Bloom's taxonomy in 2 full sentences.
This issue seems a lot like the issue of plagiarism of essays and books, however with the internet it has become much broader. Unfortunately for publishers, it doesn’t seem like they will ever have the upper hand in the copyright wars. No matter what they do, be it DRM, CSS or even the threat of lawsuits, people will continue to download and share illegally, find cracks to expose loopholes in otherwise protected systems, and maybe even make a buck off of it. It seems that the people who share cannot get in trouble, but the internet hosts can, which seems trivial. I feel that with the creation of the internet there will always be problems with copyrights.
5. (Synthesis) Address all that apply. Do you agree with what is being said within the article (Why/Why not? Back up with FACTS)? What new conclusions can you draw about this (or other topics) after reading this material?
I agree with what is being said in the article, as it explains how increasingly hard it is to protect copyrights as technology expands. People who “crack” are very good at what they do and will find a loophole whenever the opportunity presents itself. Such is the case of the creator of DeCSS; as it was used for practical reasons (so that Linux users can view copyright-protected material), it still proves the point (Baase, 218). I simply don’t believe that this issue will go away, as no matter the security precautions, hackers will always find a way to exploit it, and this will continue to occur.
6. (Evaluation) Address all that apply. Judge whether or not this topic is relevant in today’s society? Evaluate why you are viewing the topic in this manner based on your experiences. What ethical evaluations (see Chap1-1.4 for exp of Ethics) or decisions were made/can be assumed from this chapter? What new ideas will you make after reading this chapter?
This topic is extremely relevant, as a large portion of the world downloads music illegally through peer-to-peer programs such as Frostwire and torrent sites, and excluding the hosts, there are absolutely no repercussions. I can relate in this way in that while I have stopped since, I am one of the many million who would download music in this way, and in the many years I have done it there were no consequences; not to mention the fact that I knew many people who did the same and experienced similar results. I can conclude that copyrights may inevitably become a thing of the past due to the internet, and while I do not know if that is necessarily a good or bad thing, it will be interesting to see the transition.
References
Baase, Sara. "Chapter 4: Intellectual Property" A Gift of Fire: Social, Legal, and Ethical Issues in Computing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
TorrentFreak. "The Pirate Bay Trial: The Official Verdict - Guilty." TorrentFreak. 17 Apr. 2009. Web. 14 Oct. 2011.
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