The History of Internet Piracy

We all know what piracy is, but do we know HOW piracy began? We are all guilty of it I'm sure- illegally downloading music and movies. But how did it become illegal? 

The concept began in 1999 when a young eighteen year old man named Shawn Fanning; a college dropout with ideas of file sharing on the internet, created the first ever file sharing network called Napster. Napster was very popular but short lived due to the speculations of downloading music 'illegally' (meaning the artists of the songs were not getting revenue for their music). In December of 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sues Napster for copyright infringement after musicians complained. By 2001, Napster started charging for their music downloads and people lost interest and moved on to other file sharing networks-that ironically-stole the idea of Napster.

Other networks that stole the idea of Napster were sued as well. Morpheus became a popular file sharing network after Napster. However, it was later found that the owners of the companies Morpheus and other popular file sharing networks, were not liable for what their users were transmitting to each other over the network. So ultimately the companies were off the hook. None of the RIAA's lawsuits were successful in preventing/slowing down internet piracy. So what does the RIAA do? Goes after the clients. 

Eventually, it became unsafe to share movies and music through Morpheus and other networks similar. Most servers became a subscription-based service which legally allowed users to download music over their servers but cost money. Therefore, these companies ran out of business with the birth and emergence of bit torrent.

Bit torrent allows us to have free peer to peer downloading. It is stored on a website, rather than a network. For example, mp3raid.com and listentoyoutube.com allow us to retrieve files from youtube and other sources, copy and paste the link, and the website will sync to your iTunes where you will find your song. Creators were able to skirt the law regarding internet piracy and copyright infringement, whereas, in the old generation of file sharing, they came from individual computers making you an easy target.



Works Cited:

Gong, D. "The History of Internet Piracy." Web. 24 Sep 2013. <http://www.cracked.com/funny-4101-the-history-internet-piracy/>.

Piracy sites help Netflix decide what to broadcast

Netflix has become a household name with it's on demand streaming services that deliver a massive lineup of movies and TV shows. A lot of decisions that the company makes on which content to license can come from a surprising source. Netflix sees which movies are being streamed on file sharing sites like BitTorrent, and pays attention to which shows are the most popular.

Television shows like Prison Break, an American drama series, had become very popular in the Netherlands even if viewers had gone through pirating sites to watch their shows. Netflix has since bought the rights for the show to make it more accessible for consumers to just "push play" and watch their program instead of having to manage a ton of files in order to watch one show.

As Netflix has expanded to regions outside the United States, it has simultaneously dealt with piracy in its own manner. Countries like Norway and Canada have seen significant drops in the use of file sharing sites after Netflix set up operations in those respective countries.

Sources

- D'Onfro, Jillian. "Netflix Has A Surprising Relationship With Piracy Sites." Business Insider. N.p., 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013

- Woollacott, Emma. "Netflix Checks Piracy Stats To Help It Decide What To Buy."Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawoollacott/2013/09/16/netflix-checks-piracy-stats-to-help-it-decide-what-to-buy/>

Blog # 2

Piracy is a serious problem but how many of you actually know of the consequences you face if caught committing this crime? The most severe punishment is anywhere from five years in jail, up to two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in fines and a felony on your record (RIAA). At some point in time most of us have committed some form of piracy whether it is downloading music illegally with sites such as Limewire or Napster, watching movies currently in theaters with the drop box app, or even something as simple as burning a CD and giving it to friends. These are all examples of piracy and each time someone downloads a song from Limewire the artist and all those who worked to create the song are losing money. We’ve all thought to ourselves, it’s only one song it won’t make that big of a difference but when millions of other people have the same mindset it adds up.

It may all seem harmless at the time but piracy contributes to about twelve billion dollars in losses and not only is there money losses but also lost jobs and lost wages which was discovered by research done by the Institute for Policy Innovation (RIAA). As much as it hurts to pay $1.29 plus tax for a song on ITunes that seems like a lot better than thousands of dollars in fines if convicted. So you may ask yourself what you can and cannot do when it comes to music and downloading, there are sites that the owner of the music gives permission to allow downloading of their songs whether with a fee or not, it is ok to copy/burn CDs as long as you don’t give the burned copy to anyone else, this even includes simply lending a CD to someone. We have to remember we wouldn’t want someone stealing from us so we shouldn’t be stealing either. Below is a link to a great short video on the price of piracy.

 

RIAA. "What Is Online Piracy?" Http://www.riaa.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Sept. 2013.

Blog #1

The topic of online piracy is something that most people in our generation are fairly familiar with. The irony is that many people aren’t aware that downloading free music from the Internet is actually illegal. The term piracy is used to refer to the act of illegally downloading/sharing music on the Internet. Sure- it’s highly convenient for us to convert a YouTube video into an MP3 code (for no charge at all) and upload onto our iPods and iPhones. But what about the impact on the other side? Inevitably, the phenomenon of illegally downloading music makes things not so “free” for the recording artists and their record companies.

Today, it is extremely easy to find your favorite songs, even full albums, and download them at no cost. Most people don’t realize the impact that downloading “just that one” song makes. Piracy is difficult to control, as it’s done quickly and within the comfort of one’s own home. Although sites such as iTunes make it almost mindlessly easy to search for and purchase your desired music, it lacks one important characteristic that many people are looking for… the songs are not free. On average, iTunes charges around $1.29 per song. This increase in price is, in part, an effort to make up for the suspected millions of dollars in revenue lost to piracy.

It is important to educate people and make them fully aware of the negative impacts (and consequences) of illegally downloading music. I’m willing to bet that many people aren’t even aware that it’s actually illegal. After all, it is theft. Every time you download a song without paying, you’re essentially “robbing” the artist of $1.29. Multiply that by hundreds of songs and the millions of people that participate in online piracy, and it’s no wonder companies like iTunes are forced to raise their prices. Piracy is a current, ongoing issue with very little reprimand. There may be no exact answer to the problem, but there are ways to inform/educate people and make them aware of what exactly they’re doing when they download just that one song for “free”.

Work Cited

Chmielewski, Dawn. Hottest tracks to cost $1.29 at ITunes starting April 7. Los Angeles Times, 26 March, 2009. Web. 2 September, 2013. http://articles.latimes.com/2009/mar/26/business/fi-cotown-itunes26

The Recording Industry Association of America sites. What Is Online Piracy? RIAA, 2013. Web. 2 September, 2013. http://www.riaa.com/physicalpiracy.php?content_selector=What-is-Online-Piracy