Copyrighted materials include software that is being shared in a way that is inconsistent with its End User License Agreement (EULA), commercial music and movies. These products are often shared despite laws that protect the works by prohibiting unauthorized distribution. Even a user who only intends to download materials becomes a distributor because of the way P2P works. As a torrent is being received, the parts already present on the hard drive are automatically uploaded to others requesting the file.
Music illegally shared over P2P has been a central focus for lawsuits. This isn't a surprise since the first peer-to-peer network was dedicated to sharing music torrents. To stop the hemorrhaging of protected music over file-sharing networks, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has sued some 40,000 individuals.
Fortunately for the RIAA, the architecture of peer-to-peer networks makes it fairly simple to collect required proof, as the Internet Protocol (IP) address that identifies a user's computer on the Internet is displayed inside the P2P software when participating in file-sharing. If the RIAA or a third-party watchdog clicks on a commercial music torrent, the IP addresses of everyone sharing that file is displayed.
Despite illegal sharing, RIAA tactics have come under fire, most notably after unsuccessfully attempting to sue a forty-something disabled, single mother. Tanya Andersen of Portland, Oregon was wrongfully targeted for sharing gangsta rap music, then allegedly pressured for two years to settle out of court, even after the RIAA discovered an error in their methodology that pointed to a different individual as the culprit. The RIAA finally dropped the suit, but not before Andersen filed her own suit against the RIAA, accusing them of a campaign of harassment and intimidation.
The vast majority of RIAA lawsuits for P2P copyright infringement are settled out of court for $4,000-$5,000 US Dollars (USD) each. It's speculated that the RIAA's methods have resulted in more than just one wrongful lawsuit, but most P2P users don't have the means to hire a lawyer, and those who have gone to court and lost have been awarded outrageous sums by juries. Jammie Thomas was found guilty amid overwhelming evidence and ordered to pay $80,000 per song, for a total judgment of $1.92 million USD.
P2P is getting more and more common in the average internet use's daily life. Basically, a P2P network is an ad hoc network that connects participants directly, rather than through a central point. The combined bandwidth of participants is used to transfer data. Today, P2P networks are most commonly used for sharing files real-time data transfer. Most people think of the high profile Napster case a few years ago that involved illegally file sharing — namely music. So, unfortunately, there are still negative connotations associated with the term peer-to-peer. However, there are legal and ethical issues surrounding P2P. While a P2P is not illegal in its own right, sharing copyrighted material is. Many P2P networks are setup for that reason — to share music, video, and text files. A few example of P2P will be BitTorrent, Gnutella and P2PTV.
So, Let's see the good or bad of P2P through this video.
No comments:
Post a Comment