Piracy is A Problem, But the Stop Online Piracy Act is Not...

The internet is one of the few things in the world that is truly all over the world. Millions use the internet every day for more reasons than one person can think of; to connect with family and friends, find information for a research paper, or to achieve the perfect chicken masala recipe. The internet is made up of a mass expanse of web content and copyright, which is where online piracy comes in. Online piracy is the illegal use or distribution of copyrighted content, such as music, films, and can even include pharmaceuticals. Millions of dollars are ripped off every year from the illegal downloading of just music. In the visual that I have included you will see that America tops the list of music illegally downloaded from†¦show more content†¦The terminology of the act is also too broad and general; it would give the government an unreasonable amount of power over the internet. The law could potentially be manipulated to censor the internet. Those prosecuted for copyrigh t infringement would be given the bare minimum of their due process rights. Websites could potentially be shut for just mentioning something copyrighted or having a link to the copyrighted content. SOPA will put enormous pressure on third party websites to police their forums with an intensity that would eventually cause pandemonium. Sophie Stalla-Bourdillon, a lecturer at the University of Southampton Law School stated in her article about internet intermediaries that â€Å"how can one promote freedom of expression while expecting Internet intermediaries to take the initiative to police their systems or networks and in particular to react upon infringements of Intellectual Property (IP) rights.† Youtube reported that 100 hours of videos are uploaded to their site per minute; That is 144,000 hours of video per day. Youtube would not be able to screen all of these videos equal to the rate that they are getting uploaded. Through DMCA sites like Youtube are currently not held li able for what their users upload and share as long as the websites â€Å"act as neutral carriers of information and do not restrain freedom ofShow MoreRelatedSOPA: Censorships Sweetheart Essay1186 Words   |  5 Pagesinformation-hosting online encyclopedia shut down all of the articles and information on the website, presenting only a black screen and a stark situation to the world for a full twenty-four hours. Why would Wikipedia, an online giant, shut down their website? The consequences are huge, a loss of much-solicited donations to the company and advertising money. The answer is simple. What Wikipedia is trying to do is raise awareness about two bills: the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, or SOPA andRead MoreSOPA: A Righteous Cause or a Piracy Crusade? Essay1355 Words   |  6 PagesSOPA: A Righteous Cause or a Piracy Crusade? To better understand the act, one needs to first examine what â€Å"SOPA† is and means. First and foremost, SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act. This act is essentially an extension of another bill that was sent through shortly before it. The name of this bill is the PROTECT IP act, which stands for Protecting Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property. Both these names are essentially very fancy names for an anti-theft law toRead MoreThe Importance of Internet Regulation in Fighting Piracy and Enforcing Copyright Claims1710 Words   |  7 PagesInternet Regulation in Fighting Piracy and Enforcing Copyright Claims In 1980s, the Internet developed, and this brought about the growth of the file transfer protocol (FTP) servers, electronic mail (e-mail), and World Wide Web (WWW) as online services. The development has caused major challenges for copyright law. Digital technologies and Internet services have facilitated the reproduction and worldwide copyright dissemination easy and high-speed quantities with the protected works at no qualityRead MorePiracy And Its Effects On Online Piracy1630 Words   |  7 Pages â€Æ' IV. Piracy its Effects: Online piracy is another substantial type of a cybercrime. With rapid developments to technology, piracy has become easier and more widespread. Piracy, the act of pirating, is defined as the illegal reproduction, via copying or counterfeiting, of any type of work which includes: software, recordings, or even motion pictures. Although are many ways to pirate material, online piracy is most common. Online piracy uses the internet, and computer technology to illegally reproduceRead MoreThe Problem of Digital and Online Piracy1942 Words   |  8 PagesDigital or online piracy is one of the biggest if not the biggest criminal cyber acts today. It has been a major problem for nearly two decades. Sellers of digital products (ranging from music to software) are actively fighting the availability of pirated copies of their products, but despite more sophisticated copy protection, the problem is still out there (Sundararajan 2004). So what exactly constitutes online piracy? Its important to have a working definition, especially when the behaviorRead MorePiracy Is The Only Media Losing Money1975 Words   |  8 Pagesfile sharing can spread the word on any media and increase its popularity, online piracy should be regulated and stopped to support the maker of the source. Piracy is stealing content from the makers and the entertainment industry loses billions of dollars each year due to piracy. The economy takes a huge blow from piracy. The people who make the movies come to life lose jobs. Over 750,000 jobs have been lost due to online piracy. That’s 71,060 jobs a year. This includes technicians, editors, producersRead MoreOnline File Sharing and Internet Piracy1791 Words   |  8 Pagesfree country, then why shouldn’t the internet be free? Why should we have restrictions placed on what we can and cannot do on the internet? Every day, millions of users share files on the internet through numerous online sources. Whether they download music, movies, or software, online file-sharing can give people access to a plentiful amount of information. These files are often free and easily accessible by anyone. The practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored informationRead MoreFilm Piracy and Its Effects in the Industry2511 Words   |  11 PagesFilm Piracy and its effect on the Industry Five Advantages of Film Piracy: These are the advantages one might see for why to commit film piracy, but I by know way endorse such a thing. †¢ You can save money †¢ Sometimes one may have the advantage of seeing a film before it is released on DVD †¢ Its been made a lot easier to get ahold of pirated films and can usually be downloaded in minutes †¢ one can peer-to-peer share with friends †¢ One might see it as free publicity for the film Five DisadvantagesRead MoreThe Legal Issue with Napster and the Music Industry Essay1131 Words   |  5 Pagesproceeds from it the program is not being used illegally. Napster cites the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act, which allows anyone to copy music for noncommercial use(Kahn 50). This act basically states that anyone may record music for personal use, but not for a profit of any kind. The act also makes no mention of the number of copies that may be made. Secondly, Napsters argument rests on another act applied to Internet service providers and search engines. Napster is not responsible for its userRead More Freedom: Digital and Literal Essay2505 Words   |  11 Pagesthese problems are sometimes as different as night and day. All of these approaches, however, center around regulation, which is itself composed of issues such as anti-piracy laws, net neutrality, and freedom of speech. The most recent of these issues concerns many pieces of â€Å"anti-piracy† legislation that have appeared before the United States’ Congress and before the European Union’s Parliament. In 2010, Congress attempted to quietly pass the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act, which