On Digital Copyright Infringement
Copyright as an institution was simply not ready for the internet way back when, and it shows today. During the 1990s the internet bubble was ever-expanding, and the courts were far too slow to catch up. Back when people actually referred to the internet as the information superhighway (remember that one?), it felt like the worldwide web could do no wrong. Everybody was sharing everything, and all the world's information was available in an instant (or at least the closest to an instant a 56k modem could give you).Like it or not, the internet is a breeding ground for copyright infringement, and people realized this tempting little fact very, very early. The idea of restrictions and limitations almost seems to go against the very essence of the internet. To see what truly drove the final nail into digital copyright's coffin, one must look back at Napstere during its hey-day circa 1997. Anybody with a computer could simply log on and literally steal any song you could find at any time.
Napster was eventually castrated by the courts and lives on in its current pay-per-song form, but the damage was already done. Today, people expect to find copyrighted materials online for free. Copyright infringement is so easy online and carries almost none of the guilt that would be associated from physically stealing something. These are the kinds of views that fuel the world's love of downloading copyrighted materials.
And what's more, there's no way it's ending anytime soon. A dozen websites have taken up Napster's old role as free peer-to-peer file sharing programs, for instance. Instead of being curbed, copyright infringement is worse off than it has ever been. YouTube is one of the most popular websites around currently. The website's slogan is "Broadcast Yourself," but for every video shown of somebody creating their own short clip, there's a video of a copyrighted television show.
U.S. courts were slow to make any definitive rulings dealing with the internet, and even after they had, there was always the difficulty in enforcing it. While a good bit of copyright infringment does get dealt with, the idea of getting rid of all of it is almost unthinkable. The RIAA is certainly doing what it can to curb illegal music distribution, and there are many legal online music stores now such as the iTunes Music Store. There are also more compromising options becoming available. Specifically, Creative Commons is a good way to gain permission to use copyrighted materials under certain circumstances. It should be interesting to see what measures will be taken in the future in regards to upholding copyright laws on the internet.
posted by tromano @ 10:12 PM
0 comments
