Issues in Protecting Rights and Copyrights

Issues in Protecting Rights and Copyrights Each society throughout history has, and will be introduced to new ideas, inventions, and movements that benefit their communities. Yet, with those inventions will come ways for people to exploit them, and use them to gain an advantage. Recently, with the dawn of the Information Age of the early 2000s, the fairly-new Internet has connected the world in ways previously incomprehensible. With the Internet, people can send digital goods such as music, movies, and games to each other without any physical meeting or materialization. While beneficial to the economy and markets, those who sell online also risk digital pirates making copies of their goods, and distributing them for free to the world, or even reselling them. Piracy has become a growing issue in the new age, and governments across the world are beginning to take action against it. Even though government intervention would control piracy much better, and could possibly be done not to interfere with innocent customers, it could lead to invasions of privacy as people will always find ways to download copyrighted files undetected, and trying to stop infringements will only hurt internet providers and customers, who have the right to privacy, shown in the Fourth Amendment (Bridegam 11)Government intervention is certainly possible, and has been done in correlation with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. An anti-piracy firm named CEGTEK pushed for the Notice-and-Notice Law to be passed, which allows copyright companies to send letters to users, recognizing that someone on the infringed network has downloaded copyrighted software. It also tells that if the user ignores the infringement, legal action may be taken. While it does not actually search and seize files on users computers, forcing deletion, it recognizes copyrighted software being transferred to the network, and takes nonlegal action which may eventually be brought to court, however. After the Law was passed, piracy rates dropped up to 61% one ye ar (Brownell 1), due to the letters being sent with notices of infringement. It had an impact on slowing down the growth of piracy, but governments have to find other ways to end digital crime. Piracy is still fairly new to the big picture, and old laws need to be modernized in order to stop it. The Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits unwarranted and unreasonable search and seizure without a probable cause. While the Amendment protects personal property, including computers, an officer can still access the content and files stored on the machine. David Cole at Georgetown University says When I send an email, Ive shared it with the Internet provider. (Zwerdling 1) All communications with servers and websites are stored somewhere on the sites history, leaving a digital footprint behind. Law enforcement can access these records as they can be made available upon calling, because if a warrant is denied to search a users computer, another one can be requested to search the server or service provider involved in the alleged crime to find out if copyright infringement did occur. The Amendment has not aged well, and with the Information Age accelerating, th e old laws need to be updated in order to keep up with new technology. The Fourth Amendment tells little about digital search and seizure, yet it still is unconstitutional for unreasonable search of property.Internet service providers (ISPs) monitor everything a user does, downloads, and uploads on the internet, and while it may differ from each company, most keep records for all types of purposes, include hardware and software maintenance, as well as to catch pirates. These companies assign IP addresses to every computer in order to connect the PC to websites and servers, but the address can also be used to trace a user across the network. This is how pirates can be quickly caught. Some ISPs work with anti-piracy and copyright protection companies, such as Tecksavvy Solutions in Canada, work to catch infringements and stop it on their networks. The collaboration between the companies comes down to the anti-piracy firms monitoring P2P (peer-to-peer) connections scanning for copyrigh ted content. If a file is found to be copyrighted, the IP address is logged and forwarded to the ISP of the user. While it may seem like a simple job, the ISP does not legally have to disclose the name and location of the alleged pirate. (Robinson 1) Obviously, the ISP could if they wish to, but most companies see so many infringements that taking actual legal action towards the cases would cause more problems than needed. The amount of legal fees, time spent, and reputation on the line is simply too much for most companies to risk. Ways to stop piracy have doubled over the years, and each year introduces more invasive methods of cracking down. (Katyal 1) Years of lobbying and debates have introduced many new acts and bills passed in order to prevent and cease piracy. However, they have been passed in ways so as not to affect the openness and opportunity of the internet, yet still be able to enforce their rules. The Stop Online Piracy (SOPA) and Protect IP Acts are in the process of being debated by Congress, and opposed by pirates. SOPA intends to defund and cut off access to rogue sites that promote piracy but are established internationally, most notably The Pirate Bay, in Sweden. The two acts rival each other in debate, but have the same end goal to end foreign piracy in the United States. The bills have not been passed, but have the support of the RIAA, MPAA, and NMPA, all music and media production companies. (ABC-CLIO 1) Arguments followed the consideration of the bills, with the defense that they would not enforce anything, and would only hurt the internets freedom. Cutting off access to websites is a prohibition of the openness of the internet, as it is not truly free with these restrictions. The United States is surprisingly not one of the countries with the most piracy, but the ones that too have taken action against it. David Kassler, CEO of EMI Group, a British music company, says You can have a number-one album in Spain with 3,000 sales, referencing the number of pirates and downloaders. (Economist 1) Germany has kept their piracy laws simple, with a fine system for each crime. South Korea faced rampant piracy as well, but took action against it, introducing a three-point warning system for their users suspected of copyright infringement. If the user ignores these warnings and does not cease their use, their connection will be cut off and disconnected. Now, some companies in the U.S. have taken up a warning system. Copyright firms are able to collect the IP of a pirate, and can send a notice to that IP without needing to take legal action. Some unknowing pirates are frightened off by the sight of the official notice, and cease immediately. Using a detection and warni ng system has worked in Korea, leading to a 10% increase of music sales in 2009, but whether it will work in the U.S. is yet to be seen. Not all the laws will work, as Mayseey Leong of the IFPI says it wasnt as though the law came into effect and all illegal activity stopped. Laws will not be enough to stop piracy, but it can make a difference in slowing down the increase of infringement rates. Piracy has a much larger effect on people besides their internet being disconnected. Being convicted of piracy could result in graduation denial, loss of job, scholarship, or even citizenship for international pirates. Studies by Stuart Green from the International Herald Tribute shows that pirates and users of the internet have drawn a solid line between digital piracy and physical theft. (Green 1) Pirates claim nothing is being stolen, only copied and mostly used for personal use. However, 1962 introduced the Moral Penal Code, which defines property as anything valued. The vague definition has led to an argument over theft law even 50 years later, bringing up the discussion of whether or not digital goods count as valued, as they technically do not exist only as bits and numbers on a server, not physically. Therefore, a dilemma has been created where users must decide whether or not they believe piracy is actually stealing. It is known that digital distribution has done wonders for the music business, increasing revenue and popularity, but it opens up a whole world of debate about digital sharing of copyrighted goods. Because nobody is hurt at the moment of download, users claim piracy is not stealing because they are simply making a copy of the file, nobody is killed or robbed at gunpoint, as all the user has to do is click download. In the long run, production companies and music artists do take a large financial hit from a lack of sales, if a certain song or album of theirs is being sent across the internet illegally. One reporter, James Lardner, claims the more they lock things up, the more users rebel. (Lardner 1) Regardless of how companies and Congress may try to make their files inaccessible except legally, pirates and hackers will always find ways to get what they want, even if they face troubles such as takedowns of their websites. The problem companies face is that file sharing services are much smarter, and shutting down physically in one place will not affect piracy as much. One popular website, KickAss Torrents (KAT), was taken down after the founder was arrested. Yet, it did not do much against piracy, because of the way it works. Copyrighted content is shared via P2P networks, meaning it goes straight from computers that seed the file, and make it available for download directly from their computer, with no website involved. The site was simply a catalog for the .torrent files which contain the information that allow users to connect to other users to download the file. Pirates have t aken measures against website takedown, and entire server backups were quickly uploaded to a different domain name to ensure the site stayed up. KAT was down almost momentarily, and goes to show how a server level takedown could not do much damage against stopping piracy. (Mathur 1) Not only is piracy rampant digitally, but burned CDs and physical copies of copyrighted files are shared just for that reason. Physical copies are much harder to trace, despite them not leaving footprints, and can be publicly viewed and broadcasted without the user even knowing it is a pirated version. Pirates argue that the internet is a source of information and sharing, and because companies and users make their files publicly available, one way or another, they are free for the taking due to a lack of security against them. (Peloso 136) Not just one force is at fault in the grand view of piracy, but pirates blame the music industry saying it has consistently failed to adapt to changes in technology. (Wray 1) If a company has not taken any measures to protect its media, then it can be at fault for users copying it illegally. Companies can also be at fault for not making their media available in all countries for all people. International users must pirate content because some files are regionally locked, and only available in America (Wortham 1). The only way for some users to access the media is to download it from a P2P network, which may not put them completely at fault, as the companies have yet to make their media available worldwide. One anonymous user says It is available , just not legally. Having region-locked data also may serve as a cause for the high piracy rates in South Korea and Spain, being outside of the U.S. The internet is a vast network, with billions of packets of data sent on the daily. Being able to monitor and scan every single connection would take an amount of power machine and man do not have yet in the Information Age. Not even the United States could crack down on every case of copyright infringement, even in their own country. One man, who wishes to remain unknown, claims the film and television industrys efforts to stopà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ distribution à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ is like building a dam in the middle of a vast ocean. Along with their failure to keep up with modern times, copyright firms can only do so much in terms of catching pirates, as most use proxies, which change their IP addresses to somewhere far from their computer, to trick websites into thinking they are connecting from somewhere else, hiding themselves and their location. Therefore, it is presently impossible to catch every pirate, and authorities must accept the internets freedom, and how it can never be fully co ntrolled by anyone due to the massive size of it. No matter how much effort is put into stopping piracy, someone somewhere will always find a way to bypass restrictions and free the copyrighted content for the rest of the world. Once the content is out in the internet, it can never be fully erased, as it has been saved on hundreds, or even thousands of computers by the time the copyright firm has information the file has been taken. (Sampat 1) This is why website takedowns would not work, copies of the file have been made and can be reuploaded and hosted at any time. Pirates have to work together to function, but taking them down one-by-one has not worked so far. More attempts will be made to end piracy for sure, but that may spark more controversy, however, because any more intervention by the government and firms would only end up in violations of privacy and rights. Piracy is still fairly new, and is growing every day, despite rigorous attempts to stop it, while still remain constitutional. The main question ISPs and copyright companies face is how can the openness of the internet be preserved while having all illegal acts filtered out?. The protection of innocent customers is on the mind of every company, and selecting the few out of the bunch who commit acts of piracy is not an easy task. While they do have access to the file transfer history between users, they cannot legally intervene without a warrant, shown in the Fourth Amendment, and even if they are issued one, they cannot completely prove the user was the one who downloaded the material. Perhaps the pirate used a public Wi-Fi access point to copy a file off KAT, and then left the building. The owner of the Wi-Fi would receive a notice to cease piracy, even though he had committed no such act, his customers did. Piracy is a tricky subject, and neither side is technically correct. Pirate s can claim anything accessible can be taken, and will be because of the vast size of the internet, but companies do have a legal copyright on some media materials, and taking them is a criminal act. It is up to the governments of countries facing piracy to make a decision based on the current situation, and take action to resolve piracy. Pirates must unite to keep themselves anonymous against companies out to crack down on infringement. Congress must protect the pirates rights, but production companies must protect their copyrights. Works Cited A Rare Victory Against Piracy. Economist (London, England) Vol.395, No.8679, Apr, 2010, pp. 68, SIRS Issues Researcher. Bridegam, Martha Ann. Search and Seizure. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2005. Print Brownell, Claire. Pirates of the Internet. National Post, 13 Feb, 2016, pp. FP.5, SIRS Issues Researcher. Green, Stuart P. When Stealing Isnt Stealing. International Herald Tribune, 30 Mar, 2012, pp. 6, SIRS Issues Researcher. K, Katyal Sonia. Yale Journal of Law and Technology. N.p.: Yale Law School, 2005. Print. Lardner, James. The Empire Strikes Back. U.S.News World Report, Sep, 2000, pp. 54-56, SIRS Issues Researcher. Mathur, Swapnil. KickAss Torrents is Dead for Sure, but Online Piracy Will Continue. Financial Express, 23 Jul, 2016, SIRS Issues Researcher. Obama Administration Responds to we the People Petitions on SOPA.. WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE, 14 Jan, 2012, SIRS Government Reporter. Peloso, Jennifer. Intellectual Property. New York: H.W. Wilson, 2003. Print. Robinson, Michael. Student Downloaders Beware. Macleans, Nov, 2016, SIRS Issues Researcher, https://sks.sirs.com. Sampat, Neel. Digital Piracy. Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2017, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1560147. Accessed 12 Feb. 2017. Spotting the Pirates. Economist, Aug, 2011, pp. 55, SIRS Issues Researcher, Stop Online Piracy Act (2011). Issues: Understanding Controversy and Society, ABC-CLIO, 2017, issues.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1688414. Accessed 12 Feb. 2017. Wortham, Jenna. Readers Debate Online Piracy and the Future of Digital Entertainment. The New York Times. The New York Times, 29 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

How the Food We Eat Reflects our Culture and Identity Essay

Ntozake Shange in her essay, What Is It We Really Harvestin’ Here? had taught her readers a very important lesson that is very vital in understanding one’s culture and one’s family. It is the simple truth that food is more than food. It was clearly communicated in Ntozake Shange’s essay that food is not just an arbitrary or random thing that arises from one’s culture or family. Rather, the local food of one’s culture and family is a reflection of his or her environment and his way of living. The food that we eat is a mirror to what the nature provided to us outside of our houses. At the same time, food is also the mirror of our own creativity and taste. Whether we prefer sweetness over spiciness, such preferences appear and manifest on how we prepare and how we cook our foods. Summing it up, food is a very important element that we must take a look (and taste) to have a good grasp or understanding of one’s culture or one’s family. The essay What Is It We Really Harvestin’ Here? can be regarded as a very important and significant piece of literature in proving the significance of food in understanding ones’ culture. In the essay of Shange, she told the story of numerous local delicacies that will convince us to the point that we are establishing. Take for example the Shange’s example of sweet potatoes. In the essay, she made a very good way of instructing his readers on how to grow quality sweet potatoes. Growing sweet potatoes require much dedication, patience and knowledge. As seen in Shange’s instruction on how to grow a sweet potato, it was seen clearly how one must work hard to be able to produce a good quality potato. In fact, as stated in the essay, â€Å"[one must ]Get your soil ready at least two weeks before planting. . . (Shange 111)† The entire procedure is difficult. As stated again, â€Å"The easiest thing to do with a sweet potato is to bake it† (112). These lines clearly showed that growing sweet potatoes is a tough job. This difficult method of growing such crops mirrors the characters of the people or group of people who happened to eat those crops. As growing a potato requires dedication and patience, we can also argue that the people that grow this crops are dedicated and patient. This is our first way of proving the point that we established above – that food is viable factor to see in understanding one’s culture or one’s family. Another notable proof of the relationship of food and culture is the case of the Carolina Rice. As discussed in Shange’s essay, rice, more particularly the Carolina rice reached a great demand in the 1700s. Because of this, the slaves who came from West Africa are priced better than their other counter parts. This is because of a more complex knowledge and skill that is required in growing rice. The slaves who grew from rice countries are priced better. As stated in the essay, â€Å"Plantation owners were perfectly aware of the superiority of African slaves from rice country† (114). Despite the complexity of growing rice, its cooking is much simpler than its cultivation. Again, this can be related to the simplicity of the lives of the people who adapt this kind of food. Rather than undergoing some complex process of cooking, rice are just simply boiled in water (116). Once again, this showed how rice that is very complicated to grow yet very simple to cook mirror its African cultivators who have a rich culture and tradition, yet living a simple life. The way we cook our own food tells a lot on our preferences and fondness. In the essay, it was written in the later part of it that North Americans does not prefer burnt rice at the bottom of the casserole. In fact, they find it scary. However for the people other people, rice, at least the bottom of it are preferred to be burnt. This burning made possible the cooking of very dry rice (116). In my opinion, these burnt rice preferences of the colored people remind them the colored of their skins. Sidestepping a bit from the literature to my own experience, being Hispanic also mirrored on my food tastes. My taste for a good food is determined by my background as someone who has a Hispanic descent. Coming from this particular background, I prefer foods that possess a great deal of flavor and variety. As common to all Hispanics, we prefer rice meals, chilies, spices and tomatoes. This in respect to our cultivation of these crops and fruits in the earlier times and of course to our rich cultural and historical past. Shange had successfully proved to us the important relationship of food and our cultural and familial identity. As we said in the beginning of this essay, food is not a random and arbitrary thing that just popped in our households. Rather, food is product of our experiences, our appeals, our desires that were smoothened by time. What we grow is who we are. What we buy is who we are. What we eat is who we are. Food is truly a mirror to our cultures and most importantly, a reflection of our humanity. Works Cited Shange, Ntozake. What Is It We Really Harvestin’ Here. p. 109-117

Essay on terrorism - 1945 Words

Terrorism Imagine a clear blue, sunlit morning; the most beautiful day you can recall. Imagine waking up from an amazing dream of a clear horizon. Imagine putting on your new fresh suit, to start your new job. Imagine having that extra hop in your step as you leave your front door, your mind anxiously awaiting the adventure of a new beginning to an amazing day. Then, imagine not getting to where you needed to be. Not because you fell victim to a traffic jam or missed the bus, but because you were a victim of a terrorist act - an innocent victim, whose life was cut short by terrorism. Shattered dreams and lives are just some of the many effects that terrorism can bring about. Just how different is each human than another? Anatomically†¦show more content†¦For this purpose, the terrorist organizations exploit diverse media venues in order to advance their interests (Sowell). Terrorism’s function is to instill fear in as many people as possible promoting change. Terrorists use the media to further extend the fear in everyone. â€Å"Scaring as many people as possible is the true just in terror† (Sowell). The media spreads confusion that disrupts a whole society. Terrorism is used as a tool of violence to create a climate of fear in a population and thereby bring out a particular political object (â€Å"Terrorism†). â€Å"The purpose of terrorism is to get the most bang for your buck with such limited resources† (Sowell). The media does the work for terrorists. There have been many attacks on the United States to this day including the first attack on the World Trade Center, The Oklahoma bombing, and other attacks on U.S. embassies around the world. The deadliest attack ever was the attack on September 11, 2001. This attack consisted of four planes that were hijacked by suicidal terrorists. The terrorists crashed two planes into the World Trade Center, one into each tower. The third plane was crashed into the Pentagon and the forth crashed into a field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. During this attack, 266 people died on the planes and thousands more died in and around the buildings (â€Å"Info War†). This, however, wasShow MoreRelatedTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1326 Words   |  6 Pagesallowing terrorism to be successful and continue. Terrorists gain power through the common, innocent people they attack. How the world responds to terrorist attacks determines whether or not terrorism will cease. The common people’s r esponse to terrorism, the interest of the state, and the media’s role in terrorism all aide to terrorism’s success and its continuation in the future. How people willingly choose to respond to terrorist attacks defines terrorism and determines if terrorism will continueRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1035 Words   |  5 PagesOver the past Century, terrorism has advanced from random killings to enormous plans for terrorist groups. To understand terrorism you must first define it. Terrorism as we all know it is hard to define and understand, and has many different definitions as it is used widely. The word terrorism stems from the word terror, which means to instill fear in. People become terrorists when they take the actions towards instilling fear and terror upon people to prove a certain point or agenda. Some terroristsRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1626 Words   |  7 PagesTerrorism can be categorized as â€Å"the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence as means to create terror, or fear, to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim (Fortna).† Although there is no formal definiti on of terrorism, we typically associate the words terrorism and terrorists with acts of violence that are used unlawfully to intimidate in pursuance of political gain. Terrorists do not act at random, but rather use violence to maximize on fear and publicity with a specific goal inRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1126 Words   |  5 PagesTerrorism Have you ever had a fear for your family, your town, your country, or your world. How about the fear to have everything taken from you, destroyed, and not caring if it has hurt you or not? What about your fear and pain is, and can be someone else’s happiness? The fear of you being terrorized? That is terrorism. Someone else bringing fear and terrorizing you. That is a terrorist’s goal. Terrorism is common and is very difficult to stop. The government promises protection for the peopleRead MoreTerrorism And Terrorism : Terrorism1231 Words   |  5 Pages Terrorism is a common term used in the media and news everyday, especially in the United States. We are in a constant battle against ‘terrorism’, â€Å"Counterterrorism has to be woven into the everyday workings of every department. It should be included on the agenda of every meeting†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Kelling Bratton, 2006). Terrorism and How to Respond All terrorism is criminal but not all criminals are terrorists. Terrorism unlike most crimes has a political agenda behind it. Many terrorists are involved withRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism851 Words   |  4 PagesTerrorist attacks are major threats that could occur in any nation. Terrorism is one of those things that can happen at any time. It will strike in small, medium and large cities. Although we will never be able to remove all risk from terrorism, we can definitely reduce the risk through hazard mitigation and disaster preparedness (GBRA, 2011). To better understand terrorism we need to know what it is. Terrorism can be defined as the use of force or violence against persons or property in violationRead MoreTerrorism : Terrorism And Terrorism1377 Words   |  6 PagesTerrorism in Sudan In the past, Sudan had been designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism regarding support for international terrorist groups. However, Sudan has changed its approach ever since the 9/11 attacks has been aiding the United States in diminishing the pervasiveness of terrorist groups in Sudan, and in the world. Recently, Sudan has remained cooperative with the United States in its war on counter terrorism. Sudan has taken many preventive measures to keep these terrorist groups outRead MoreThe Effects Of Terrorism On Terrorism And Terrorism944 Words   |  4 PagesEffects of Terrorism â€Å"The history of terrorism is a history of well-known and historically significant individuals, entities, and incidents associated, whether rightly or wrongly, with terrorism,† (History of Terrorism). The history of terrorism is a long bloody road. One of the bloodiest of acts of terrorism in the early years, was the reign of terror. In which, the Jacobin leader, Maximilien Robespierre, executed 40,000 people. Newspapers coined the word â€Å"Terrorism† as a way of describing RobespierreRead MoreTerrorism Between Terrorism And Terrorism1207 Words   |  5 PagesQuestion † What trends are evident in terrorism over the past 5 years? How have these trends impacted on the ways in which counter terrorism has responded in the Australian context? Introduction Terrorism poses a serious security challenge to the Australia and globally as it prevalence has increased over a decade although less attacks occur in the Western nations. The purpose of this assignment is to examine what trends and terrorist tactics are evident internationally over the past 5 years andRead MoreTerrorism Between Terrorism And Terrorism2012 Words   |  9 PagesTerrorism has played a brutal and alarming role in societies across the world. Many nations have been confronted with the need to develop solutions in the wake of tragedies caused by terrorism. Unfortunately, terrorist organizations are still operating and terrorist acts have continued. Many questions that have still gone unanswered despite careful study, but governments are finding some relief when collaborating with anti-terrorism organizations (Fischer, 2002). Terrorists have struck almost everywhere

Servius Tullius, the 6th King of Rome