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.