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/>.
How do you think that programs like Spotify and Google Music will affect the amount of Piracy?
ReplyDeleteI think these easily accessible and affordable programs may have a serious (positive) affect on helping to eliminate the amount of piracy. It's not likely we will ever get rid of it completely, but with programs like Spotify making it convenient and cheap to obtain music, it is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteNot only are these programs cheap, they're effective. They're safe, dependable sites that people can use to house their music library.
How is it that spotify, pandora and now itunes radio can play music for free, but if you download the same songs you just listened to, it's considered piracy?
ReplyDeleteDownloading songs gives you ownership over the songs that you didn't pay for which is piracy. Spotify and pandora are free listening sites that do not give you ownership over the songs.
ReplyDelete