Digital Piracy
Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2010 9:36 pm
Model United Nations
Topic: Digital Piracy
May 5th
Digital Piracy is the last Congress topic for the year. It's also a topic that most of us can actually relate to personally. Should and how can the United States government enforce intellectual property rights in the internet? Research and start posting stuff on the forums.
Introduction
Digital piracy, copyright infringement through the internet, is a huge problem facing the United States of America and the rest of the world. With the explosion of the internet in the 1990s, illegal downloading of music, movies, computer software, and even digital books has gradually picked up steam. Universal Music Group estimates that only one in three music CDs and one in twenty music downloads in the world are sold legitimately. In March of 2009, the highly anticipated movie, “X-Men Origin: Wolverine”, was leaked and available for download throughout the internet even before its theatrical release. According to TorrentFreak, one million people had downloaded the movie within one weak of the leak. It is estimated that in 2008, digital piracy lost software companies $53 billion in revenue and that the entertainment industries also suffered losses in the tens of billions. Ultimately, digital piracy is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed appropriately.
Laws and Court Cases
The Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 ) and laws of the United States of America protects intellectual property rights (IPRs), which digital piracy violates. With the passage of the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act in 1997 and other pieces of legislation, copyright infringement on the internet, even if it is without commercial implications, became prosecutable criminal offenses. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), representing the American music and movie industries respectively, are two of the biggest organizations focused on tackling digital piracy. The RIAA has sued thousands of people for copyright infringement throughout the years, with most people agreeing to settlements between $3,000 to $5,000. When the RIAA sued Jammie Thomas-Rasset for illegally downloading and file sharing 24 copyrighted songs in July of 2009 and Thomas-Rasset refused to settle, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled that she had to pay $1.92 million in damages. A similar case in August ruled that Joel Tenebaum had to pay $675,000 in damages for illegally downloading and distributing 30 songs. The effects of these lawsuits are far more symbolic than financially meaningful for the RIAA and the MPAA.
Difficulties in Tackling Digital Piracy
Because of the magnitude, complexity, and internationality of digital piracy, it is difficult for the United States to enforce copyright laws on the internet. Although an exact number of how many internet users are “digital pirates” is difficult to ascertain, the fact of the matter is that there are simply too many for the authorities to hold responsible. Even if copyright laws become tightened even further, the prospect of millions of American being fined and/or arrested is very farfetched. Also, the internet is unlike the physical world and it can be complicated to trace people online. If a person walked into a music store and physically stole a CD, it would be not difficult to identify and indict this person. However, if that same person used his friend’s computer to access a proxy site that brought him to a Russian website through which he illegally downloaded an album, it is near impossible for authorities to find this person, let alone hold him or her accountable for copyright infringement. Furthermore, the Russian website aspect brings up another point, websites and hosting servers that are out of the jurisdiction of the United States. Although US piracy websites are routinely spotted and shut down by US authorities, countries with laxly enforced copyright laws may have illegal websites that the United States can do little about. China’s biggest video sharing websites, Tudou, Youku, and 56.com, contain almost every single American movie and music video, content that Youtube in the United States would never be allowed to host. And even though YouTube can not host these copyrighted materials, any American is able to access them in the Chinese video sites. Additionally, the piracy rates of countries such as China, Vietnam, and Russia are staggering. In terms of computer software, China and Vietnam have piracy rates higher than 80% and illegal downloading of music and movies are even more common occurrences. What’s troublesome for America is that a large percentage of the pirated material is American. Even if the government manages to curb digital piracy within the United States, American industries would still be losing a lot of money unless countries around the world participate in the piracy crackdown.
Conclusion
Digital piracy is as complicated a problem as it is important. There are many facets of the issue that needs to be addressed in order to moderate and eventually eliminate digital piracy. Amongst other facets, the United States government should find ways to propagate the seriousness and consequences of digital piracy, to acquire the technology and resources to track digital pirates, and to effectively convince other countries to cooperate on intellectual property rights.
Links
http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/w ... _id_05.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/busin ... .html?_r=1
http://www.hcfa.house.gov/111/press043009c.pdf
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/features/d ... ndex3.html
http://www.wmitchell.edu/intellectual-p ... Update.pdf
Topic: Digital Piracy
May 5th
Digital Piracy is the last Congress topic for the year. It's also a topic that most of us can actually relate to personally. Should and how can the United States government enforce intellectual property rights in the internet? Research and start posting stuff on the forums.
Introduction
Digital piracy, copyright infringement through the internet, is a huge problem facing the United States of America and the rest of the world. With the explosion of the internet in the 1990s, illegal downloading of music, movies, computer software, and even digital books has gradually picked up steam. Universal Music Group estimates that only one in three music CDs and one in twenty music downloads in the world are sold legitimately. In March of 2009, the highly anticipated movie, “X-Men Origin: Wolverine”, was leaked and available for download throughout the internet even before its theatrical release. According to TorrentFreak, one million people had downloaded the movie within one weak of the leak. It is estimated that in 2008, digital piracy lost software companies $53 billion in revenue and that the entertainment industries also suffered losses in the tens of billions. Ultimately, digital piracy is a very serious issue that needs to be addressed appropriately.
Laws and Court Cases
The Constitution (Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 ) and laws of the United States of America protects intellectual property rights (IPRs), which digital piracy violates. With the passage of the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act in 1997 and other pieces of legislation, copyright infringement on the internet, even if it is without commercial implications, became prosecutable criminal offenses. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), representing the American music and movie industries respectively, are two of the biggest organizations focused on tackling digital piracy. The RIAA has sued thousands of people for copyright infringement throughout the years, with most people agreeing to settlements between $3,000 to $5,000. When the RIAA sued Jammie Thomas-Rasset for illegally downloading and file sharing 24 copyrighted songs in July of 2009 and Thomas-Rasset refused to settle, a federal jury in Minneapolis ruled that she had to pay $1.92 million in damages. A similar case in August ruled that Joel Tenebaum had to pay $675,000 in damages for illegally downloading and distributing 30 songs. The effects of these lawsuits are far more symbolic than financially meaningful for the RIAA and the MPAA.
Difficulties in Tackling Digital Piracy
Because of the magnitude, complexity, and internationality of digital piracy, it is difficult for the United States to enforce copyright laws on the internet. Although an exact number of how many internet users are “digital pirates” is difficult to ascertain, the fact of the matter is that there are simply too many for the authorities to hold responsible. Even if copyright laws become tightened even further, the prospect of millions of American being fined and/or arrested is very farfetched. Also, the internet is unlike the physical world and it can be complicated to trace people online. If a person walked into a music store and physically stole a CD, it would be not difficult to identify and indict this person. However, if that same person used his friend’s computer to access a proxy site that brought him to a Russian website through which he illegally downloaded an album, it is near impossible for authorities to find this person, let alone hold him or her accountable for copyright infringement. Furthermore, the Russian website aspect brings up another point, websites and hosting servers that are out of the jurisdiction of the United States. Although US piracy websites are routinely spotted and shut down by US authorities, countries with laxly enforced copyright laws may have illegal websites that the United States can do little about. China’s biggest video sharing websites, Tudou, Youku, and 56.com, contain almost every single American movie and music video, content that Youtube in the United States would never be allowed to host. And even though YouTube can not host these copyrighted materials, any American is able to access them in the Chinese video sites. Additionally, the piracy rates of countries such as China, Vietnam, and Russia are staggering. In terms of computer software, China and Vietnam have piracy rates higher than 80% and illegal downloading of music and movies are even more common occurrences. What’s troublesome for America is that a large percentage of the pirated material is American. Even if the government manages to curb digital piracy within the United States, American industries would still be losing a lot of money unless countries around the world participate in the piracy crackdown.
Conclusion
Digital piracy is as complicated a problem as it is important. There are many facets of the issue that needs to be addressed in order to moderate and eventually eliminate digital piracy. Amongst other facets, the United States government should find ways to propagate the seriousness and consequences of digital piracy, to acquire the technology and resources to track digital pirates, and to effectively convince other countries to cooperate on intellectual property rights.
Links
http://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/w ... _id_05.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_infringement
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/busin ... .html?_r=1
http://www.hcfa.house.gov/111/press043009c.pdf
http://www.magazine.ucla.edu/features/d ... ndex3.html
http://www.wmitchell.edu/intellectual-p ... Update.pdf