Hello everyone! I'm super excited to announce the Dinosaurs and Piracy video "College Students: What the Heck Gives?"!! Here it is:
Hope you enjoy!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
BitTorrenting: Pirates of Today
Hello! Over the last three posts, we've discussed some older sites and programs that were used for internet piracy. Today, we'll talk about a modern improvement on those technologies:
BitTorrent
The name "BitTorrent" can mean several different things, such as files downloaded using BitTorrent technology or programs used to set up BitTorrents. However, "BitTorrent" technically refers to a specific type of modified peer-to-peer (P2P) network. Most networks are eventually faced with a problem: their servers can only distribute files to so many people at a time. If enough users request a file from a server simultaneously, the download speed may slow to a crawl or the server may crash.
BitTorrenting solves this problem by distributing the task of distribution along with the files. When multiple users request a file, the server gives a different part of the file (or "bit") to each user. Then, the users' computers swap their bits back and forth across the BitTorrent network until each has a complete image. This speeds up download speeds tremendously, as the server no longer has to distribute a complete version of the file to each computer that requests it. In fact, BitTorrents speed up as the number of downloaders increases, because the file is broken up into smaller bits and more computers are involved in its distribution.
Since its creation in 2001, the BitTorrent technology has been one of the major influences on the rise of internet piracy. Its flexibility, ease, and speed has made it tremendously popular for sharing large files. Additionally, many BitTorrent clients are open source, making it possible for many different people to create different versions and improvements (and for BitTorrents to stay one step ahead of the law). Some modern BitTorrent clients/sites include The Pirate Bay, μTorrent, and Frostwire. If time permits, we may talk about some of these sites and programs later. In the meantime, if you're interested in more information about BitTorrent, check out this site or this video. Until next time!
BitTorrent
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| A BitTorrent website |
BitTorrenting solves this problem by distributing the task of distribution along with the files. When multiple users request a file, the server gives a different part of the file (or "bit") to each user. Then, the users' computers swap their bits back and forth across the BitTorrent network until each has a complete image. This speeds up download speeds tremendously, as the server no longer has to distribute a complete version of the file to each computer that requests it. In fact, BitTorrents speed up as the number of downloaders increases, because the file is broken up into smaller bits and more computers are involved in its distribution.
Since its creation in 2001, the BitTorrent technology has been one of the major influences on the rise of internet piracy. Its flexibility, ease, and speed has made it tremendously popular for sharing large files. Additionally, many BitTorrent clients are open source, making it possible for many different people to create different versions and improvements (and for BitTorrents to stay one step ahead of the law). Some modern BitTorrent clients/sites include The Pirate Bay, μTorrent, and Frostwire. If time permits, we may talk about some of these sites and programs later. In the meantime, if you're interested in more information about BitTorrent, check out this site or this video. Until next time!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Old-school Pirates (Part III)
Hi, it's Fred! Today I'd like to talk about one more famous site from the early days of internet piracy:
Grokster
Grokster, like Kazaa, was a second-generation peer-to-peer (P2P) network that was birthed from the fall of Napster. (In fact, they started out using the same network, StreamCast.) Grokster was eventually embroiled in a lawsuit with MGM that reached the Supreme Court. The lawsuit resulted in a landmark ruling that established the "inducement test".
Because Grokster was software that set up a P2P network, any and all materials shared via the Grokster program never came in contact with any of Grokster's servers or computers. Grokster therefore argued that, since the company was technically never in possession of illegally copied material, they were innocent of any wrongdoing. However, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that Grokster was ultimately responsible for acts of piracy through their software, since the company sold a program that was intended to "induce" the spread pirated material.
The inducement test doctrine has had widespread repercussions on the internet piracy debate. Proponents consider the inducement test to be a concrete way of discerning whether an organization or an individual is at fault in a copyright dispute, while opponents argue that the inducement test is vague and raises more questions than it answers. If you're interested in learning more about the inducement test, you might read this article for a fairly balanced approach, and this article for an opinionated take on the issue. See you next time!
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| Grokster's website today |
Because Grokster was software that set up a P2P network, any and all materials shared via the Grokster program never came in contact with any of Grokster's servers or computers. Grokster therefore argued that, since the company was technically never in possession of illegally copied material, they were innocent of any wrongdoing. However, the Supreme Court eventually ruled that Grokster was ultimately responsible for acts of piracy through their software, since the company sold a program that was intended to "induce" the spread pirated material.
The inducement test doctrine has had widespread repercussions on the internet piracy debate. Proponents consider the inducement test to be a concrete way of discerning whether an organization or an individual is at fault in a copyright dispute, while opponents argue that the inducement test is vague and raises more questions than it answers. If you're interested in learning more about the inducement test, you might read this article for a fairly balanced approach, and this article for an opinionated take on the issue. See you next time!
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Old-school Pirates (Part II)
Hey guys, it's Fred! I hope you all had a fun time with the switch from Daylights Savings to Standard Time!
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| WHAT TIME IS IT SERIOUSLY GUYS |
Today we'll be talking about one of the best-known post-Napster "second-generation" piracy sites:
Kazaa
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| Kazaa's website today |
Kazaa (sometimes styled KaZaA) was another brainchild of the man behind Napster. However, Kazaa differed from its grandfather in several important ways. First, it was a decentralized, P2P network that allowed direct sharing between users without the need of a central server, circumnavigating the lawsuit filed against Napster. Additionally, it not only allowed people to share music, but also videos and software. This greatly expanded the possibility for piracy and made it very, very dangerous to copyright holders. Hence, its days were probably numbered from the beginning.
Kazaa wasn't just a website; it was also a program that users downloaded to their computers to enable P2P sharing. Eventually, Kazaa began bundling spyware/adware with their program, and it became targetable by antimalware programs. This, coupled with a long and turbulent history with copyright holders, sounded its death knell. It is still possible to download hacked versions of the Kazaa software, but the Kazaa website is currently inactive (see above). If you're interested in learning more about Kazaa, this website contains a number of news items about Kazaa and this article covers some of Kazaa's history.
Tune in next time for one more old-school pirate site!
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Old-school Pirates (Part I)
Hey there, it's Fred! Today and tomorrow we'll be talking about some older methods of internet piracy, starting with the grandfather of the piracy debate:
Napster
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| Napster's website today |
Napster is one of the most infamous internet success stories of all time. In 1999, Napster was launched by a college dropout who was dissatisfied with the available options for downloading media over the internet. He created a service that was organized around a central server that shared music files. Napster became extremely popular very quickly; at its peak, 80 million people were using its services. The trouble was, those people were using Napster for sharing copyrighted material in vast quantities. The music industry got wind of this development, and RIAA sued it for $20 billion. Just like the dinosaurs, Napster went extinct.
...or did it? Today, the Napster website is still active, but it has been acquired by Rhapsody, and it is now used as an extension of Rhapsody's social network. Still, its name has joined the pantheon of the great internet piracy sites, and its death kicked off the internet piracy debate and spawned dozens of related sites such as Kazaa and Grokster. We'll talk more about those two tomorrow. In the meantime, you might want to check out this article, this article, and this article if you're interested in more information about the history of Napster. Until next time!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
What Is Internet Piracy? (Part II)
Hello, it's Fred! I hope you're having a spooktacular Hallowe'en. Are you donning a costume to go a-haunting in your local neighborhood? Perhaps you're going as a witch? Or a Santa Claus? Or a PIRATE?? Or perhaps....all three?
In keeping with our theme of Internet piracy: what are some ways that Internet piracy can occur? With what specific Internet technologies is it accomplished?
Why do people pirate things? Well, there are many different reasons. Perhaps they simply don't wish to pay the full price for something, or perhaps they want an item that is difficult to find on the "white market". In fact, Internet piracy doesn't even have to be intentional; you don't necessarily have to know that something was pirated illegally in order to download it illegally. This issue of intention in piracy will be discussed in later posts; I'm interested to explore the social, cultural, and psychological motivations for piracy in a bit more depth.
The motives for procuring something illegally are manifold and varied; therefore, there are many different ways of obtaining pirated material. One of the oldest and (still) most common ways of distributing pirated material is through peer-to-peer networks (P2P). A modern spin on this that improves on the technology used is torrenting. It's also possible to purchase CDs, DVDs, or other physical products on websites such as Craigslist or eBay that were illegally produced or copied. These are just a few of the ways that Internet users can purchase pirated material. Again, I hope to explore many of these methods in greater depth in later posts.
These first two posts have served as a rough introduction to the intent of this blog. I hope you have a better sense now of where we're going. I can't promise we'll be able to address all of these many potential topics, but I hope you'll come along for the ride! See you next time!
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| Ahoy ho ho ho! |
Why do people pirate things? Well, there are many different reasons. Perhaps they simply don't wish to pay the full price for something, or perhaps they want an item that is difficult to find on the "white market". In fact, Internet piracy doesn't even have to be intentional; you don't necessarily have to know that something was pirated illegally in order to download it illegally. This issue of intention in piracy will be discussed in later posts; I'm interested to explore the social, cultural, and psychological motivations for piracy in a bit more depth.
The motives for procuring something illegally are manifold and varied; therefore, there are many different ways of obtaining pirated material. One of the oldest and (still) most common ways of distributing pirated material is through peer-to-peer networks (P2P). A modern spin on this that improves on the technology used is torrenting. It's also possible to purchase CDs, DVDs, or other physical products on websites such as Craigslist or eBay that were illegally produced or copied. These are just a few of the ways that Internet users can purchase pirated material. Again, I hope to explore many of these methods in greater depth in later posts.
These first two posts have served as a rough introduction to the intent of this blog. I hope you have a better sense now of where we're going. I can't promise we'll be able to address all of these many potential topics, but I hope you'll come along for the ride! See you next time!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
What is Internet piracy? (Part I)
Hello, it's me, Fred! I thought it'd be nice to start our discussion of Internet piracy with a definition. What exactly is Internet piracy?
Simply put, the word "piracy" means theft. When applied to the Internet, it refers to a practice called copyright infringement. This is defined by the U.S. Copyright Office as using any copyrighted work without the permission of the copyright owner. That's pretty far-reaching, and if you think about it a bit, you might be surprised at the many places you may have accidentally infringed on a copyright!
The word "infringement" sounds passive and a little vague. You might think that it's not a big deal or that copyright laws are somewhat abstract and lenient. However, the law views copyright infringement as the forceful theft of another person's property. Sounds an awful lot like a pirate! ARRGH!
It might surprise you to learn that copyrights are quite old, dating back to 1710 with the British Statute of Anne. (Check out this site for more info!) Copyright law in the U.S. was enacted in 1790, although it has continuously evolved to accommodate both new forms of technology and copyrightable materials. These days, its possible to copyright anything from recordings to architecture to pantomime––anything and everything that constitutes "original works of authorship".
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| Is this piracy? It could be, if you take this image from my blog without asking! |
The word "infringement" sounds passive and a little vague. You might think that it's not a big deal or that copyright laws are somewhat abstract and lenient. However, the law views copyright infringement as the forceful theft of another person's property. Sounds an awful lot like a pirate! ARRGH!
It might surprise you to learn that copyrights are quite old, dating back to 1710 with the British Statute of Anne. (Check out this site for more info!) Copyright law in the U.S. was enacted in 1790, although it has continuously evolved to accommodate both new forms of technology and copyrightable materials. These days, its possible to copyright anything from recordings to architecture to pantomime––anything and everything that constitutes "original works of authorship".
That's one reason Internet copyright infringement is such a divisive issue. Never before in human (or sauropodian) history has a communication tool as powerful as the Internet developed so rapidly within such a short period of time. Should the Internet change the way we view intellectual property? Is it impossible for it not to? These are the kind of questions we'll be asking in the next few posts. See you next time!
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