Digital Technology And Its Effects On The World

Piracy has become a major issue in the United States. For every motion picture that has been featured in theaters also has been pirated onto the Internet the next day, and for every new musical album that is released, yet there is a free torrent file of the album within the same hour. Even though these online pirates steal music and movies from other companies and make a drastic profit, yet these “rogue” websites receive 53 billions visits a year from across the globe according to Creative America. The persistence of the thieves that break copyright laws of the productions has lead the entertainment business to place a definitive complaint to the U.S. government of the constant notion of piracy. While the notion of piracy was not left

In the global market that we leave in companies are trying to find any and everyway that they can to get ahead in their respective markets. This most of the time brings out the most innovate thinkers that can come up with a way to keep it’s company on top of their market and sometimes we see that there are companies that like to take a short cut by using non legal and malicious methods. According to Lewis, (1985), Software piracy is the illicit copying of the operating instructions and applications programs, which make computers work, is a large and growing industry. The Pirate Bay is part of a European social and political movement that opposes copyrighted content and demands that music, videos, TV shows, and other digital content be free and unrestricted. In the words of the Pirate Party, “the Pirate Bay is a unique platform for distributing culture between regular people and independent artists, and that’s something we want to preserve.”

The pervasive nature of the Internet has made the copying of music and software exceptionally easy, fast and for the most part, undetectable. The ubiquity of the Internet and the speed at which music and software can be copied is also changing the sociological and legal aspects of computing as well (De George, 2006). For the first time the availability of technology is driving a level of expertise with computer users globally that give them the opportunity to capture, distribute, duplicate and even re-publish massive amounts of intellectual property that isn't theirs (Wilson, 2007). This is forcing the issue of copyright infringement and the protection of intellectual property at a global scale. In so doing, this dynamics is also re-ordering ethics surrounding all forms of digital content as well.

Australian copyright law as it stands does not anticipate or take into account existing and new technologies in society. The internet has profoundly changed the way individuals’ access, share and create content. It enables widespread and extensive access to knowledge instantaneously, fosters

Traditional legal principles and processes are constantly challenged by the need to keep pace with copyright issues in particular piracy. The Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Bill 2015

The purpose of the copyright system has always been to promote creativity in society and protect the creators’ interests. In applying copyright laws to any creation, three basic guidelines apply. First is the fair return for a creators labor, second is “Fair Use” of the creators’ labor and finally the Progress of Science and useful Arts to further the public good. The application of these three guidelines in litigation for A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, found that the rights of reproduction, and distribution had been violated, in effect upholding the copyrights of nineteen different music companies represented under A&M Records name, this ruling had protected the music industries interests. However it would seem that the publishing industry would not be so lucky, litigation in Authors’ Guild vs. Google ruled that Google’s actions constituted fair use. Under these two scenarios’ the copyright laws’ have, effectively, protected the rights of music artists’, protected the public’s right to “fair use” and sparked new opportunities for creative growth. However, lawmakers continue to struggle to define copyright boundaries between the public’s right of use and the creators right to profit from their efforts.

DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) is a part of the Copyright Law which prevents internet service providers to be held accountable for copyright infringement that was done by one of the users in their networks. The owners of the materials continuously monitor the internet; they identify individuals who seem to distribute their content without a license. These individuals who did commit the copyright infringement will be held responsible for the damages, not the service provider. DMCA is created to discourage users from freely distributing online creative content without permission from the owner or proper credits given to the owner.

The era of cable television reaches its final breath. Digital media begins flourishing. Online communities and social media reign over, spoiling our fingers with content of all calibers. The internet is causing a change so radical that legal matters are still catching up with it. As the Founding Fathers intended, effective law should include creating law adapts to society’s changes. However, change hasn’t occurred yet. The American copyright law only gets more controversial as it butts its way in. There is now a three-way skirmish between creators, large corporations and legislature for a simple reason. It is preventing creative freedom and distribution of content online. The American copyright law is ironically limiting much of this generation’s creativity by preventing exposure, criminalizing the wrong people and letting others take advantages of its own loopholes.

We all know that downloading pirated music and films is illegal, but what exactly is it? The term piracy refers to the copying and selling of music, films and other media illegally; in other words you are copying and selling copyrighted media without the permission of the original owner (NiDirect, n.d.). With the massive growth of the internet and its ability to store and capture vast amounts of data, we have become much more reliable on information systems in all aspects of life, but it does not come without the risk of information technology being used unethically. With the number of IT breakthroughs in recent years “the importance of ethics and human values has been underemphasised” often resulting in various consequences. Not surprisingly one of the many public concerns about the ethical use of IT is that “millions of people have downloaded music and movies at no charge and in apparent violation of copyright laws at tremendous expense to the owners of those copyrights” (Reynolds, Ethics in Information Technology, 2015). This essay covers the ethical issues of downloading pirated music and films and the impact it has on music corporations and recording and film companies.

With the advent of the Internet, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) in 1998 to address the obligations imposed by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Treaty. Owners of copyright were concerned that their works would be pirated online, and the existing legal systems in place at the time were insufficient to protect individuals and the industry as a whole. The DMCA was passed in 1998 with the intention of stopping copyright infringers from circumventing anti-piracy protections that have been built into copyrighted works. Specifically, the “Section 1201(a)(1) prohibits the act of circumventing a technological measure used by copyright owners to control access to their works.” Although the DMCA was intended to bolster intellectual property law, it has had a deleterious impact to the industry in the aggregate.

The film “ Digital Nation” is an exploration of diverse people's views on digital media, in today's world. Some of the most important topics were on the virtual world, and the pros and cons of technology within different groups like gamers, students, families, teachers, administrators, children, military and businesses, as well as the experience of general people. In the movie, Prof. Sherry Turkle said, “Technology challenges us to assert our human values. Technology is not good or bad, is powerful, and it is complicated which means first we have to figure out what they are”. Currently, technology has taken over, wherever one, goes one will find it. Over the past years, social media in particular have spread worldwide; from Facebook to Instagram. There is constantly something new, extra advanced and creative. Overall, the technology has evolved the way humans interact with each other. In particular, technology influences by motivating students towards learning, saving time, building literacy and communication skills.

The term ‘fair use’ is defined by Hudson as the use of copyright material without permission from the owner for purposes that are deemed fair. In the digital economy however, new challengers arise with ‘fair use’. These challenges are due to the complex and changing nature of the digital environment, and the need for the law to remain relevant, and be clear and broadly understood in the community. Secondly, the purpose of copyright law is to stimulate creation and learning by providing incentives to create and distribute. Therefore, it is important that reforms do not change the fundamental objectives of the copyright law. The ALRC has made recommendations outlining implementation of ‘fair use’ legislation in Australia, which is intended to outline the purpose and character of copyright material that may be used without permission from the owner. The purpose of the ALRC report is build a fair and reasonable legal guidelines where copyright material can be used fairly for purposes that may not infringe copyright.

The rise of the Internet era opened the whole new market for traditional media full of opportunities as well as threats. Online piracy being one of them because the music and film industry loses £5.4bn in a year and if it was reduced by 10% it could have created up to 13 thousand jobs in the UK. There are various attempts taken to fight with online piracy; a case study of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement will be considered as well as other legislations attempting to regulate copyrights in the Internet. This

Computers were a huge introduction into the world in 1950s. By 1975 they were able to be used by many people and not just large companies. Computers have progressed so much over the years that it has contributed to many things (History, Development). Computer technology is the most important invention in history because it helped shape the modern world. Computer technology helps expand businesses. Advertising is a major way that computers technology has helped expand businesses. Computer technology has also helped the medical field progress. One way it has helped the medical field progress is that it has allowed doctors to communicate and share information with one another in short amounts of time. Lastly, computer technology helps to keep people informed. A major way it keeps people informed in our world today is politically.

Section 65A of the Indian Copyright (Amendment) Act, 2012 provides legal protection to technological protection measures (or ‘TPM’ e.g. digital locks, encryption), such that the circumvention of such TPM is prohibited, while tools or devices aiding circumvention may be permitted for the purpose of fair use. Such use of TPM for the purpose of access control is classified as DRM and can take many forms- limiting number of installations and plays , limiting content to certain file types , limiting content to be played on particular software etc. We first analyze this provision in comparison with similar US and EU provisions and try to understand whether it is a favourable addition to Indian IP law, especially in the context of its political- economic background. We then try and analyze the problems with the provision, especially through the lens of an economic analysis as well as from a consumer point of view. Since, DRM is