Internet Piracy Theft of Intellectual Property Essay

Piracy is a form of theft. Specifically, it refers to the unauthorized copying or use of intellectual property. Intellectual property is knowledge or expression that is owned by someone. There are three major types of intellectual property: 1) creative works, including music, written material, movies, and software, which are protected by copyright law; 2) inventions, which are protected by patent law; and 3) brand-name products, which are protected by trademarks. Many of the issues surrounding piracy have to do with the difference between intellectual property and physical property. A CD, for example, is a piece of physical property, but the songs on the CD are intellectual property. A customer in a record store can purchase a CD, but†¦show more content†¦And because the copies are tapes of tapes, the quality suffers. But if the film has been digitized into a computer file, it can be E-mailed to millions of people in minutes; because strings of zeroes and ones can be reprodu ced with absolute fidelity, the copies are perfect. And online pirates have no development costsÂâ€"they dont even have to pay for paper or blank cassettesÂâ€"so they dont really have a bottom line. The problem of Internet piracy did not gain national attention until Napster gained an enormous following in 1999. The original Napster, created by thenÂâ€"college student Shawn Fanning in May 1999, was an online music service that enabled users to trade digital music flies. Napster used a technology known as peer-to-peer (P2P) networking. P2P networking essentially enables users to link their com- puters to other computers all across the network. Each user linked to the Napster network was able to share his or her music files with all the other users on the network, and each user was in turn able to download a copy of any music file on almost any other computer in the network. Napster claimed to have over 20 million users in July 2000, all of them making copies of each others music. By that time, Napster had become the subject of a massive controversy over online file sharing. Part of Napsters appeal was intertwined with the novelty ofShow MoreRelatedIntellectual Property And Social Property Theft1643 Words   |  7 Pagesmuch confusion about the Internet and the new problems and questions it brings to the table in terms of the court of law, and how law enforcement should deal with it. Then comes the matter of Intellectual Property, and what it covers and how to integrate it into the justice system. Intellectual Property is a grey area for many people and can also be a very controversial matter. In this paper I will clear up some misconceptions about the definition of Intellectual Property and what it covers, someRead MoreSOPA: A Righteous Cause or a Piracy Crusade? Essay1355 Words   |  6 PagesRighteous Cause or a Piracy Crusade? To better understand the act, one needs to first examine what â€Å"SOPA† is and means. First and foremost, SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act. This act is essentially an extension of another bill that was sent through shortly before it. The name of this bill is the PROTECT IP act, which stands for Protecting Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property. Both these names are essentially very fancy names for an anti-theft law to protect theRead MoreIntellectual Property Essay1379 Words   |  6 PagesTechnology is now the foundation to any society and in America; digital products (mp3 files, videos, books, etc.) are protected as intellectual property. Theft of any intellectual property would have similar (and in some cases more severe) consequences as stealing a car or shoplifting, however, some countries that fall behind in the development of intellectual property can easily steal digital products and produce them for a much cheaper and easier rat e of production. One such country is China, whichRead MoreIntellectual Property And Computing Technology1207 Words   |  5 PagesIntellectual Property through the development of computing technology Intellectual Property refers to any original creative work manifested in a substantial form that can be protected. When an intellectual property right is mentioned, it refers to controlling the manner in which intellectual property is used, distributed or accessed. The intellectual property right is enforced by the World Intellectual Property Organization which is an organ of the United Nations. The organization holds that intellectualRead MoreStop Online Piracy Act ( Sopa ) - Why Did It Fail?975 Words   |  4 PagesStop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) – Why did it fail? SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) was a bill proposed in the House of Representatives that aimed to tackle the growing problem of online piracy and copyright infringement. It targets foreign-based websites that contain any form of unauthorized copyright-infringing material such as movies or music by giving content-creators the right to stop any US businesses from providing payment services, advertising, or even dealing with prosecuted websites; essentiallyRead MoreEthics and Information Security Essay1125 Words   |  5 Pagestechnology conflicts in the United States are privacy issues and how we cite, distribute and publish intellectual property on the internet. For instance, many corporations and people take advantage of the open access of the internet and the lack of legislation governing the right to post and upload information to the internet. Today, nearly every household in the United States has a computer with internet access and faces the challenge of ethical or unethical choi ces about the information they view andRead More Peer to Peer Piracy and the Film Industry Essay944 Words   |  4 PagesPeer to Peer Piracy and the Film Industry Introduction Each day an estimated 400,000 films exchange hands through the Internet. Movie piracy, once reserved to pirate syndicates and illegal duplication factories, has become a common staple among college students with high-speed internet access. With advanced compression technology, movie files can be transferred across continents in hours and across campus networks in under ten minutes. File-sharing is seen as a victimless crime, but the motionRead MoreThe History of Internet Piracy1122 Words   |  4 PagesHistory of Internet Piracy and its Impacts Internet piracy and copyright infringement have become major issues around the globe. Internet piracy has also evolved significantly since its beginnings. The effects are particularly felt by multiple industries, including the music, movie and software industries. As a result of the overwhelming effects of piracy, many pieces of legislation have either been proposed or passed in the United States. Piracy has significantly impacted the Internet as a resultRead MorePsychological Profiling And Predictive Modelling3711 Words   |  15 PagesIntroduction 4 3. Intellectual Property Rights 5 1) Patents 5 2) Trademarks 5 3) Copyrights 5 4) Trade Secrets 5 4. The Nature of Threats 6 1) Computer Hacking 6 2) Reverse Engineering 6 3) Physical multimedia piracy 6 4) Online Piracy 6 5) Disclosure of Emails 7 6) Disclosure of employees information 7 5. The Magnitude of the Threat 8 6. Offenders 9 7. The Source of Threat 10 1) Externally influenced theft of IP 10 2) Internally influenced theft of IP 10 8. Methods of stealing Intellectual Property 11 9. MitigationRead MoreIntellectual Property Is Intangible Property963 Words   |  4 PagesIntellectual property is intangible property that can be owned by law. The Law protects the four following areas. 1) Copyright- grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. 2) Trademark- a symbol, word, or words legally registered or established by use as representing a company or product. 3) Patent- is the protections of an individual’s invention and the way its use. 4) Trade Secrets- A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument,