The Importance of the Value of Copyright, Essay Example

Introduction

The overflow if information in the internet has caused both positive and negative effects on how the modern society intends to view the value of copyright and intellectual property. It could be analyzed that somehow, through the existence of this particular fact, drawing the line between merely sharing a file over the internet and specifically ‘plagiarizing it’ has become rather deem and unclear to many. Understandably, many people desire to share what they know about through the internet. Some own files such as movies and music which they also intend to share online. Some of these individuals do the said matter without any malice in mind. They simply share these files to their friends and to people who might be interested in seeing them without any desire of initiating crime-defined actions such as that of plagiarism. It is because of this reasoning that many individuals began to see plagiarism as a mere ‘thought’ and not a legal matter to consider. The unclear distinction of what is right and what is wrong has become rather a common matter in the field of modern internet operations. Notably, this is the reason why even though the legal sanctions are quite unclear in relation to this matter, several agencies and individuals the like resort to the rules of ethics. The right of ownership and intellectual property recognition is the relatively considered in relation to this particular issue. In the discussion that follows, understanding what constitutes proper from improper file sharing shall be given particular attention to. This shall be presented in relation to the desire of pointing out how file sharing in the internet should be viewed especially by those who consider it as a non-malicious act that should not be legally sanctioned. Clearing off the issues related to this matter is hoped to provide a clear distinction on how P2P file sharing should be viewed in line with the modern systems of sharing information through the internet.

What is P2P File Sharing?

P2P is the abbreviation for the term peer to peer. Relatively, peer to peer sharing is coined as the term related to the manner by which one or two persons share specific files through networks hosted through the internet. For instance, in a social network, a personal video of a particular individual which he might like to share to his friends could be posted online for presentation. There are options to these video presentations with which they can be downloaded by the friends of the said individual and keep the said files as their personal copy. The process of peer to peer sharing however do not begin and end in social networking. There are some files that are passed on through download cue websites where users could actually look for specific files [maybe document, image, video or audio files of any kind] and be able to download the said items directly within minutes and keep the files as their own.

Among the files passed on through these download nooks in the web are movies and music renditions by artists in the entertainment industry. There are instances that these files, when shared and downloaded are maliciously treated in a way that they are duplicated and later on distributed to other users in the internet or at times even outside of the web. During these instances, the ones who downloaded the said files gain the power to manage the information that they get from the internet. They tend to deal with the matter as a source of personal business. This is called as piracy.

Question is, how does one qualify as an ‘internet pirate’? How do the legal enforcers over the web identify a particular user as a pirate? Would they have any basis in imposing that a person is engaging in acts against the piracy law? Because of the widespread application of the act of peer to peer file sharing in the internet, it is quite hard to pinpoint who is doing what. Notably, it could be understood that it is through this particular reason that the legal sanctions against peer to peer sharing has been established during the recent years. Researchers have found out that with the existence of strict rules, it would be better to contain the situation of piracy that is already considered as a growing commercial plague against the copyright concerns of the artists.

Going Over the Value of Copyright

In the field of entertainment industry, it could be realized that whatever form of art such as movie, programs and music creations, everything is prepared for and everyone is paid for according to their efforts. Notably, the returns from the sales of such creations are noted as the profit which is specifically considered to be distributed to the individuals who have become a part in the creation of such form of art. When piracy enters the picture, it is most often than not that these artists, producers and manning staffs are affected accordingly. Notably, it could be observed that such situation involves the condition by which the works and efforts of the people involved in the process of creation are being jeopardized.

This is the reason why it was deemed necessary by legal advisers to impose a law called SOPA or the Stop Online Policy Act. This act hopes to control the manner by which files are shared over the internet [no matter what type of files they may be]. The law entails to cease and desist the existence of download nooks that allow internet users that are relatively getting files for their own personal use. The bandwidth used in downloading huge files is then monitored accordingly. Officers in specific areas where the bandwidth founded to be accounted with are then reported to local police officers for confirmation. Once confirmed of the act of piracy, the users are then summoned to report to local police facilities and pay relative amount of damages they are accounted for or if not, they are entailed to serve a specific time of spending months to years in jail.

To make the assumption of legal control more relatively effective, DOJ specifically made it certain that the manipulation of the legal sanctions of the matter be more specific that even online ads are suggested to be barred accordingly. When this happens, the freedom of the people to share files online would be strongly limited. Careful assumption on the part of the users on identifying the files that they are going to share would likely be a certain need to give attention to.

The application of SOPA was a controversial move that received both good and bad reactions from the public. The good reactions specifically came from the industries relatively affected by piracy. The entertainment industry is one of the said factions in the society that gained great benefits from the application of this particular law. The value for their work has been strongly given regard through this law and their rights to property have been protected accordingly. On the other end, a larger number of population of internet users retort against this law showing that they are not sharing files for the sake of piracy but for the sake of personal ownership. Relatively, this is the reason why up to now, the application of SOPA is being strongly debated upon. Notably, such debate causes the condition by which the sanctions of SOPA to be adjusted accordingly. Considerably, the desire to impose the correctness of the law is aimed by the members of the entertainment industry, while its being unjust is strongly imposed by regular users who claim to be not pirating the files.

Conclusion

The flow of information in the internet has been a strong source of competence in the field of web utilization. Users often define the internet as a bowl of information that could help them with research and simply with the desire of being informed. Sharing files through the web then intends to support this desire through creating a source of information that could be used by the public freely. However, when it comes to the detection on who among the users are utilizing files maliciously, it is important that the manner by which each individual is identified according to the activity they engage with is given consideration to. SOPA or the act against piracy specifically gave way to the possible resolution to the said issue. However, when valued accordingly, it could be realized that the application of such law should be seen through accordingly as it should provide ample balance in seeing the values of P2P sharers and the owners of the files being distributed online.

In the future, more individuals would desire to access files online. Streaming is seen to have a great impact on how human individuals view their favorite programs through the internet. How these files are used are up to the users. Considering ethical conditions of utilizing such files for personal conditions of entertainment should be given careful attention to. All in all, this problem could only be resolved through the utilization and recognition of the value of respect for others’ work, others’ effort and others’ output of talents. The legal sanctions might contain the situation, but it will always be the attitude of humans towards the matter that would provide a long time resolution to the issue at hand.

References:

Castro, Daniel (2011-12-05). “PIPA/SOPA: Responding to Critics and Finding a Path Forward”. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation.

Curtis, Tom (January 13, 2012). “Game industry unrest swells as SOPA hearing approaches“. Gamasutra.

Dingledine, Roger; Mathewson, Nick; Syverson, Paul (13 August 2004). “Tor: The Second-Generation Onion Router”. Proc. 13th USENIX Security Symposium. San Diego, California

Tsukayama , Hayley (November 22, 2011). “Tech coalition backs off SOPA support”. Washington Post.