I think at some point in my life, I wanted to be a pirate, but nowadays, pirates are pretty lame, especially those who haunt the Internet, stealing from content creators and others. The government acknowledged the lameness of pirates by enacting the DMCA; Robert S. Boynton defines this law by saying that it is “designed to protect copyrighted material on the Web. The act makes it possible for an Internet service provider to be liable for the material posted by its users.”
He goes on to explain that if an Internet service provider is being sued for the content of a subscriber’s Web site, that Internet provider can simply remove the material in order to avoid any legal action. This is called a “safe harbor” provision, where service providers can use a “notice and takedown” technique to quickly disable the distribution of this illegal content. Through this provision, intermediary sites, where users separate from the site can post information, can execute a “notice and takedown” if the copyright holder flags the video as infringement. This idea, alongside other rules defined throughout the law, made it possible for websites to not live in constant fear of being sued into oblivion (David Kravets).
But what constitutes as piracy? Unfortunately, there are no clear-rules defining how much work must be stolen in order for it to be considered as piracy. Some of the factors in determining this, David Kravets explains, is whether the material was commercially used, whether it hurt the original’s market, and whether that work is a parody. While this rule may seem fair on the surface, the DMCA also enforces the idea that consumers cannot lawfully copy DVDs that they have lawfully purchased; therefore, people claim that the law negates consumers’ rights and violates fair use laws.
In my opinion, I do not believe that it is ethical or moral for users to download and share copyrighted material. Content creators poured their time, energy, and unique skillsets in order to create something beautiful to share with the world, and by sharing it without a cost, people are robbing creators of the money they rightfully earned. Without paid entertainment, the entertainment business would cease to exist; people who make their livelihood off of movies, TV, music, and artwork are unrightfully losing money to these pirates.
The morality of sharing copyright material becomes a little obscured when discussing when a person owns a version of the material or just wishes to sample the material. If a person owns a copy of the material rightfully, I believe that it is ok to copy that material as long as he or she does not distribute that copy to anyone else. This action would be difficult to police, however, and counting on someone to not distribute that copy may be harrowing.
As for sampling or testing the material before purchasing, I believe that this action is moral or ethical as long as the person is not testing or sampling the copyrighted material outside of its intended purpose. If a person was interested in buying something and wanted a preview before investing, then I believe that it is moral for him or her to test the copyrighted material with an intent to buy. However, if a person is solely utilizing the material for testing, then he or she must delete that material if he or she no longer has a use for it; keeping “unwanted” testing material around could quickly and easily lead to copyright infringement.
Even though I advocate for not sharing in copyrighted material, I have participated in this sharing in one way or another (please don’t turn me into the authorities). I would rather not go into the details, but I justified my actions by believing that the information which I was gathering could not be obtained in any other manner; I could not, after several hours, find and purchase this information legally, as it was not available to purchase or view on the company’s website or through a legal third party. I still regret my actions and wish to support them financially and legally, but when only illegal sources make that information available, I would rather obtain that information than not have access to it at all.
In my “innocent” world, I would like to believe that many people follow the same thought process that I do; they make this information free and available on the Internet for those who either cannot afford to obtain the copyrighted material or simply do not have a way of obtaining it legally. According to some of the articles, however, people are hoarders; they want to collect as much information as possible, without any intention of using it, for the sake of having a wealthy stash of information. The Internet easily enables this behavior, and through pirating, this information can easily be obtained without breaking the bank. Others, too, want to make information free and available for everyone, eliminating any sort of boundaries that would prevent people from having access to any sort of information. Others still may not even realize that these acts of viewing and obtaining copyrighted material from the Internet are illegal.
With streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify, it definitely has become easier to watch and view copyrighted material legally. With Netflix being only a few dollars a month and Spotify being free, both of these services are inexpensive, legal ways of dealing with copyrighted material that has staunched and will continue to discourage the act of pirating. However, I think that pirates will always be around. For example, Netflix and Spotify cannot buy the rights to every single TV, movie, and song in existence; there will always be content that cannot be obtained any way besides through pirating. While these services will be sufficient for the general public, there will always be people interested in content that cannot be obtained by large, legal companies.
Based on this fact, I don’t think that piracy is a solvable problem. There will always be pirates out there, and the more the law cracks down on them, the craftier and more skilled they will become. I think that streaming services and the idea of making content easier to access legally will prevent the creation of some new pirates, but there will always be content out there that businesses to do not make legally available online. I do, however, believe that it is a real problem; industries and content creators are continuously losing money to pirates and their illegal actions.
And I have contributed to this problem.
I guess I’m pirate after all.
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