here's some links:
http://www.anti-acta.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement
theres a ton of information if you Google file sharing lawsuits etc
Sunday, December 5, 2010
ACTA and you (part 2)
Recently there have been some actions taken against file sharing over the internet. ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) has been going through legislation this year in an attempt to establish a set of standards for punishment for counterfeiting goods which includes (but is not limited to) file sharing of copyrighted material over the internet. File sharing started in the 1980s through the use usenet and other forms of communication like internet relay chat (IRC). More recently, programs like Napster appeared and made sharing mp3 files quick and easy (and free). However, after many lawsuits they had to change their policies. As file sharing gains popularity, we are seeing more and more lawsuits and more file sharing sources being shut down. One of most popular programs, Limewire, was shut down permanently just a couple months ago. While Limewire allowed the downloading of individual files, torrents appeared and allowed for the download of entire albums, full length movies, even an artists' entire discography at one time. And while the existence of torrenting sites is not illegal currently, (e.g. having the files uploaded on a site) downloading them is. This has been cause for many lawsuits against torrenting sites, and people have gone to jail for it. Just a few weeks ago, one of the most popular torrenting sites - The Pirate Bay - came under attack once again, and has allegedly been shut down "for good." I put this in quotes because the domain still exists, although after several trials will not load the home page. Starting in January, it will be a lot more difficult to access torrent sites due to the legislation that is going through currently. I feel like there will always be ways to share files, but if ACTA passes, there is going to be a lot of pressure on ISPs to monitor their clients' internet usage.
here's some links:
http://www.anti-acta.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement
theres a ton of information if you Google file sharing lawsuits etc
here's some links:
http://www.anti-acta.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirate_Bay
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement
theres a ton of information if you Google file sharing lawsuits etc
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I always have mixed feelings when I hear about the anti-pirating legislation they're trying to pass. On one hand I understand that artists want to be paid for their work and all, but on the other hand I feel like they might be wasting their time. I mean are they ever really going to be able to stop people from sharing music? I don't really think so. And the idea of going to jail for downloading music just seems a little bit ridiculous to me. There aren't many people I know that haven't done that at some point in their lives. Just kind of scary to think about.
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