2008 Woodie Awards
A PIRATE'S Life
Music theft on the high seas
Magdalena Jensen
Issue date: 2/26/08 Section: Features
The Internet as we know it, spawned from work by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the 1970's (according to History of the Internet from ABC-Clio Press), provides the everyday user with a wealth of information; the world is a click of a mouse away, so to speak.
One of the beauties of this great behemoth of dot-coms, wikis, porn, electronic mails and the like is file sharing. Not only are we, the average computer-savvy collegiate, able to download Flo Rida's "Low" in a matter of minutes, we can also rip the pre-released version of "Be Kind Rewind" and laugh at Jack Black's antics even before he hits the big screen.
Yes, it is illegal to download copyrighted files from the Internet. Yes, music is copyrighted. Yes, films are copyrighted. No, we won't stop doing it.
How has this illegal phenomenon become more widely practiced than similar illegal trends (i.e. smoking weed)?
The Internet, ever the wealth of knowledge, provides detailed documentation of the rise and downfall of Napster.
According to www.howstuffworks. com, Napster was the evil monster that spurned a whole black market of music downloading.
Invented in 1999 by 18-year-old Shawn Fanning, Napster was born as a file sharing system that was able to quickly search and filter the music files of online users.
Not only did this spawn a new age of fast, easy and, most importantly, CHEAPmusic consumption, it also opened the debate as to the laws regarding intellectual property.
On Dec. 8, 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit against Napster for copyright infringement. According to www.cnn.com, the RIAAsought reparations of $100,000 per copyright-protected song swapped to date on Napster.
At the time, over 200,000 songs were available, meaning the enterprising Shawn Fanning would have a $20 billion hole in his pocket. Several months later, the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled that Napster must shut down.
One of the beauties of this great behemoth of dot-coms, wikis, porn, electronic mails and the like is file sharing. Not only are we, the average computer-savvy collegiate, able to download Flo Rida's "Low" in a matter of minutes, we can also rip the pre-released version of "Be Kind Rewind" and laugh at Jack Black's antics even before he hits the big screen.
Yes, it is illegal to download copyrighted files from the Internet. Yes, music is copyrighted. Yes, films are copyrighted. No, we won't stop doing it.
How has this illegal phenomenon become more widely practiced than similar illegal trends (i.e. smoking weed)?
The Internet, ever the wealth of knowledge, provides detailed documentation of the rise and downfall of Napster.
According to www.howstuffworks. com, Napster was the evil monster that spurned a whole black market of music downloading.
Invented in 1999 by 18-year-old Shawn Fanning, Napster was born as a file sharing system that was able to quickly search and filter the music files of online users.
Not only did this spawn a new age of fast, easy and, most importantly, CHEAPmusic consumption, it also opened the debate as to the laws regarding intellectual property.
On Dec. 8, 1999, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit against Napster for copyright infringement. According to www.cnn.com, the RIAAsought reparations of $100,000 per copyright-protected song swapped to date on Napster.
At the time, over 200,000 songs were available, meaning the enterprising Shawn Fanning would have a $20 billion hole in his pocket. Several months later, the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled that Napster must shut down.
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