Worldwide Police Action Against File-Swappers
This week, over a dozen countries participated in raids aimed at curtailing illegal file swapping over the Internet. Many arrests were made and a good deal of computer equipment was confiscated.
This multi-national law enforcement action goes to show what a worldwide problem illegal file swapping has become. Here in the U.S., the issue is being consistently litigated in our courts. The Supreme Court recently ruled that companies who provide file swapping software can, in some instances, be held liable for the criminal behavior of their customers. But going after the software developers can only dent but not stop file swapping. For every one Napster taken down, ten Groksters grow in its place.
While vigorous investigation and prosecution of file swappers should continue, the only real solution will have to be a technological one that some how prevents duplication. Otherwise, music companies, movie producers and even book publishers are going to have to deal with diminished profits. And diminished profits for them means less product for us.
If nothing else, we need a cultural understanding that illegally downloading an album from the Internet is no different that shoplifting a CD from a store. File-swapping has the potential to be a serious economic problem. I hope it can be dealt with soon.
posted by Alan Stewart Carl @ 2:40 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
P2P programs are apparently not that hard to write. Here's a list from wikipedia of platforms that exist and I'm sure they don't have them all. There's a LOT more than just 10.
Also, I don't think it's stealing to share an old song that is not comercially available. But it IS stealing to share a song that IS comercially available. I don't really think it matters whehter or not you'd want buy it--stealing is stealing. As you pointed out, there are a lot of cheap and legal ways to buy a song on-line, so why steal it?
You can't really think that file sharing is benign and has no detrimental effect on entertainment industries and their employees. It might not currently be having a huge impact but it is pretty easy to see how illegal file-swapping can become a large even organized criminal pursuit--particularly as more and more high-speed connections are established.
Bad use of the word organized. Just meant that there are already people who organize the illegal file-sharing--not for profit but just because they want to. This will likely only increase.
You do bring up some good points about the difficulty of enforcing this. I would counter that none of us has a right to own these old music tracks--just because they exist doesn't mean we get to have copies. But I would also say it is rather pointless to prosecute someone just because they download an old jazz track. Nor do I think it's unethical to download such a piece of music.
My assumption would be that only those who conduct massive amounts of illegal file-sharing are targeted by law enforcement. And, as I said initially, this is not a problem that will be solved through law enforcement. It's a technological issue.
BTW, the much bigger problem with P2P is how it's used to share stolen identities and child porn. But that's a whole other matter.
I think that the main problem is that most file swappers do not feel as though fileswapping is morally wrong... and god knows it's hard to prosecute them. I think that this is because most people are taught that the reason stealing is wrong, is because when we steal we deprive someone of something (IE I take your bread and you don't have bread any more). The deprivation that occurs when someone illegally copies data is more metaphorical and theorietical. Until a new more sophisticated morality can be widely accepted, or until prosecution can be vigorous and effective... file shopping will be wildly popular. The ease at which data is copied that allows for tremendous profits for meida corps also makes their wares incredibly stealable.
I worry however that if media corps got their way, and incredible amount of inovation and development would be stifled.
Balance in all things.
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