Music and videos — these forms of entertainment are the ones that are often known to be pirated. Through technology, the barriers to access have been removed and we could share everything with each other through p2p networks, IRC and other means on the Internet. It makes everything easier, so to speak.
Have you ever wondered about intellectual property rights and that you might be violating some of them? How about thinking that the law does not seem to understand the culture we have? Do you think that everything on the internet is legal? If you have been asking these questions, the book “Pirates of the Digital Millennium” by John Gantz and Jack Rochester might help you understand the issues.
Chapter 1 has the title “Are you a digital pirate?” This chapter asks the questions regarding the perception of piracy. Throughout the book, you will read the different studies conducted in order to know how people see themselves when it comes to intellectual property rights and piracy.
The book also serves as some sort of primer on copyright. Currently, there are different perspectives on copyrights and for us to understand it more, the book even included the history of copyright.
The different perspectives on copying and downloading files (music, videos, software, games etc.) are included in the book. In this age of computers and Internet, things look blurry as the materials are not physically tangible and as the origin of copyright would seem to be more concerned with the tangible materials, there is that resulting conflict. Some people propose the need for change in the business models of the media industry in order for them and the consumers to have a clear understanding.
The legal concept of “copyright” was first ratified by the United Kingdom’s Statute of Anne of 1709. As room was not made for the unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted content within this newly formulated statutory right, the courts gradually created a doctrine of “fair abridgement”, which later became “fair use”, that recognized the utility of such actions. The doctrine only existed in the U.S. as common law until it was incorporated into the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107, excerpted here:
Not withstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include—
the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
the nature of the copyrighted work;
the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
We’ve heard of talk of fair use in the context of downloading, sharing and performing of copyrighted works. What’s it all about? How are ordinary consumers affected? It’s good if we know our rights as consumers, and it’s also good for creators of content, art or music to acknowledge fair use.
Fair use is a doctrine in United States copyright law that allows limited use of copyrighted material without requiring permission from the rights holders, such as use for scholarship or review. It provides for the legal, non-licensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author’s work under a four-factor balancing test. It is based on free speech rights provided by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The term “fair use” is unique to the United States; a similar principle, fair dealing, exists in some other common law jurisdictions.
Yoga seems to be one of the most popular activities these days. Arguably, it could actually be said that it is THE most popular past time in the world. From the United States to Asian cities, you can see people taking up yoga every single day. Taking up yoga is not that simple, though. After all, you’d need a teacher and take classes. More so, yoga is not always a cheap activity. In fact, some of the best schools can charge considerable fees.
What if I were to tell you that you can learn and practice yoga in the comforts of your own home without the hefty price tag? Indeed, technology is again making itself felt. You can download yoga classes from various web sites – some for free, some for a fee. I’d say that one of the best offers you can find online is at Yogaglo. This web site offers downloadable yoga classes for as low as $18 a month. It might still seem a little steep for some, but for unlimited download, it is really a good deal!
They currently have more than 350 yoga classes available online. Once you become a member, you can take your pick from these classes for the fee mentioned above. The videos can be played on a computer or TV.
You can still opt to search for cheaper or free yoga downloads – there really is no shortage. However, the advantage of Yogaglo is that they have built a pretty good reputation and they offer a much more structured set up.
Feel like jumping into the yoga bandwagon? Try “virtual” yoga.
What’s the best way to put a full stop to music piracy? To be honest, I have no answer to that. I think that no matter what we do, there will always be people driven by one reason or another to download music (and other media) by illegal means. I guess it is human nature. And, yes, call me pessimistic but that’s the way I see it.
Still, we cannot stop trying, can we? And I think that this is what the brains behind Music Matters are thinking. Music Matters is a new web site that aims to make people more aware of music piracy, and to stop us from engaging in this activity. More from their web site:
We believe it is important to support the artists and all those involved in making incredible music by choosing to consume music in an ethical way, and that’s why we’ve set up Music Matters.
The Music Matters trust mark will act as a guide for music fans and help differentiate legal music services from illegal ones. Click here for a list of all supporting sites and look for the Music Matters trust mark when choosing new music.
When you choose sites carrying the trustmark you can be sure the site is legal and the copyright holders are paid for their creative work.
First thought: it tries to make people guilty about piracy. Second thought: it just might work for some people! However, I am quite the realist, and I know that it will just NOT work for those who have suppressed their conscience over the years. Still, I think that it is worth a try!
More and more music services are opening up all over the world to cater to legal downloads. This could be partly due to the (major!) efforts of the recording industry to curb illegal downloading but it could also be due to more people seeing the benefits of legal downloading. Of course, we cannot discount the possibility of companies trying to gain some benefit (monetary and otherwise) from opening legal paid download services.
In any case, there is another service that’s opening in Europe. Bigwig Hewlett-Packard is joining the fray and is opening up a music service in some European countries. Dubbed the MusicStation, this will be preloaded on some of HP’s personal computers. They will be released in the following countries:
• Austria
• Belgium
• Britain
• Italy
• France
• Germany
• The Netherlands
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
The service has been developed and is managed by British digital music firm Omnifone. HP runs a similar service in United States with RealNetworks’ Rhapsody.
Such new subscription services helped to lift sales of digital music 12 percent last year to $4.2 billion, industry trade body IFPI said last week.
“As the world’s biggest PC vendor, HP has huge opportunity to create a viable competitor to iTunes due to its scale,” said Rob Lewis, chief executive of Omnifone. Apple’s iTunes — with a pay-per-download business model — is the leading digital music distributor.
How much is this going to cost? 10 euros for a month for unlimited access. Not too bad.
Everyone knows what happened in Haiti recently. The earthquake that hit them ruined the country and has brought so much suffering to the people. Even today as I write this post, countless Haitians are on the streets and still suffering.
The international community has been quick to do what it could to help out but it seems that there can never be enough help doled out. The infrastructure of the capital was torn down by the strong quake and a lot of Haitians are not being reached quick enough. Worse, there is a lack of medicine, water, food, and other basic necessities.
While many have already given what they can, we can still help in other ways. One of these ways is by downloading the music from the recently concluded production Hope For Haiti Now. I don’t know if you got to watch the telethon but I did and it was very touching how it was all put together.
I have to admit, the musical performances were one of the main reasons I watched it and they were all great! The songs were perfect for the theme and the artists gave their best when performing. It really is worth getting that music. Even better, when you buy the album, you will be giving directly to Haiti.
So you got an iPhone or an iPod Touch for Christmas. Now what? Of course, the next step is to download as many applications as you possibly can. You’re probably already trying to get your hands on various apps, but here is a list of some of the apps that will bring you a whole lot of fun to usher the New Year in.
Spotify for the iPhone
Spotify has already captured the hearts of countless music lovers. It has been dubbed the ultimate music app for the iPhone. You can sync music – offline playlists – through WiFi among other things. Downloading the software is free, but in order to make full use of the Spotify service (listen-all-you-can), you have to pay for a subscription. It is well worth the fee, trust me.
Doom Classic
Younger kids may not have recollections of this game – which was mind blowing way back then – but everyone will enjoy playing Doom. The game play is very similar to the original and the controls very easy. More so, if you have the same WiFi connection, you and your friends can play together via the network!
Photoshop
The iPhone is not known for taking ultra nice pictures, but who needs excellent shots when you have Photoshop to “prettify” them for you? With this iPhone version, you can do a lot with those pictures – and you get free storage (2GB) at Photoshop.com as well.
Music, games, and photo editing – you’ve got all you need to keep you busy!
In the past year, downloading music off of the Internet illegally has continued to be at the forefront of technology-related issues. It is not a bit surprising as songs and albums continue to abound online, and a lot of people will not stop downloading as long as there is something to get. It seems to me that the music execs and government watchdogs have been running around in circles trying to solve this problem.
Jamie Cullum, a jazz-pop sensation from the UK shares the same sentiments. In a recent interview, he admitted to downloading music illegally. He said that he would oftentimes use P2P sharing when he cannot immediately get his hands on an album. He added, though, that he would still buy the album when it came out, or when he found it.
While the idea of illegal downloading doesn’t sit well with me, I understand his point of view. There are times when you just want to listen to the music and release dates and other matters like that make it impossible to do so immediately. That’s when P2P comes in handy. And it’s not like you are taking revenue away from the musicians and the record labels – not if you buy the album anyway, right?
The problem is that not everyone will do this. Many people would probably stop at downloading illegally and not obtain the album legally afterwards. Jamie Cullum thinks that the solution is to come up with services “so sophisticated and so comprehensive that people don’t need to download stuff¬ for free.”
Don’t you just hate the way Windows manages attached devices and storage media on the USB? I just about explode everytime I get a message that I can’t safely remove my flashdisk because some program is said to be using it and you frantically remove every single app that’s open hoping that it’s the one that’s causing the problem.
That’s why I think a utility like USB Safely Remove is such an indispensable tool. It helps manage USB devices by actually indicating what it is and removing devices is as simple as clicking on it. The cool thing is that if there is a conflict, the utility will tell you what application is causing the problem.
Music and videos — these forms of entertainment are the ones that are often known to be pirated. Through technology, the barriers to access have been removed and we could share everything with each other through p2p networks, IRC and other means on the Internet. It makes everything easier, so to speak.
The legal concept of “copyright” was first ratified by the 
More and more music services are opening up all over the world to cater to legal downloads. This could be partly due to the (major!) efforts of the recording industry to curb illegal downloading but it could also be due to more people seeing the benefits of legal downloading. Of course, we cannot discount the possibility of companies trying to gain some benefit (monetary and otherwise) from opening legal paid download services.
Everyone knows what happened in Haiti recently. The earthquake that hit them ruined the country and has brought so much suffering to the people. Even today as I write this post, countless Haitians are on the streets and still suffering. 
So you got an iPhone or an iPod Touch for Christmas. Now what? Of course, the next step is to download as many applications as you possibly can. You’re probably already trying to get your hands on various apps, but here is a list of some of the apps that will bring you a whole lot of fun to usher the New Year in.
In the past year, downloading music off of the Internet illegally has continued to be at the forefront of technology-related issues. It is not a bit surprising as songs and albums continue to abound online, and a lot of people will not stop downloading as long as there is something to get. It seems to me that the music execs and government watchdogs have been running around in circles trying to solve this problem.
