Downloading Legally

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New Search and Discovery Laws Border on Invasion of Privacy

December 9, 2008

As more and more people seek to get their hands on free music, more control has been put in place due to the huge amount of profits lost due to piracy. The problem is global and has become one of the most debated issues of today’s technology circles. Though most technology used in the piracy trade has roots in consumer electronics, they are always surely derived from some form of computer piracy which is used to obtain them from their sources. From illegal file sharing like P2P sites to illegally copied DVD’s and CD’s, they are all result of the utter failure of DRM software which was used to control them in the past.
They were either too obtrusive (denying full enjoyment of the product through huge overhead requirements) or too wasteful of resources (computer memory and processor power that nothing else can be done). The other side is that people always want a sense of control over their world as with hackers (who own and operate P2P sites and promote piracy all over the world) void of the constraints of laws and technology. It seems as if the battle for control between business and personal wants would always necessitate the cat and mouse game between people who want it and people who want to earn from it (music and video).
Proponents of free everything over the internet have been finding it harder and harder to share and copy files over the internet due to new and stiffer penalties imposed on those who are caught doing so. The new and improved anti-piracy laws carry stiff penalties and users risk even getting their internet service cut-off by providers should they be found and caught repetitively doing so. The next arena where conflict would arise would be the fact that the new search and discovery laws are indeed invasive for law enforcement are allowed to seize and conduct search on all if not most of suspected devices that may hold pirated materials. Proposals that would allow law enforcement to search wireless enabled devices without you even knowing about it is alarming for along with any possible pirated stuff, all the contents of your gadgets and gizmos can be copied along with it. There is a thin line between search/discovery and privacy that it is heavily debated over and over again to ensure that all basis are covered.
Any flaws in laws are quickly discovered and overcome by piracy advocates to allow them to continue with their illegal activities. Hopefully, stiffer laws and higher penalties would dissuade piracy allowing better control over media where DRM has utterly failed. Some media firms have even resorted to handing out free tracks and other freebies to get more to buy the legal stuff and they have also lowered subscription rates to online services allowing as low as $0.50 cents. Many other marketing strategies have been taken to dissuade and turn previously illegal users to turn legal but there are still millions of illegal users who use illegal songs downloaded from web sites and other sources. In my country, a trip to some malls can have you loaded with tons of illegally copied cds and dvds for a fraction of the cost of the originals even with regular police action.

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