Social Media Research Paper
Social Media Research Paper
March 3, 2012
American Digital Media Copyright Issues
Introduction Copyrighting digital media is a balancing act for the U.S. government. The digitization of entertainment (i.e. music, movies, software, books, etcetera) makes legislating difficult. Copyright owners seek to maintain the intellectual property of their creative works. On the other hand, consumers want the freedom to use their purchases—of copyrighted products—in various ways: sometimes in ways prohibited by law. On the other hand, certain uses of digital media products have no legal precedent. As a result, the landscape of copyright law is continuously adapting to consumer demands and other forces within the economy. The usual complaint surrounding copyright infringement is revenue lost from pirating. A Washington Times article reported two months ago about a man—Xiang Li, a Chinese national—pleading guilty to “conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and wire fraud in the distribution of more than [one hundred million dollars worth] of pirated software around the world.” Mr. Li disabled the “access control features” and digital licenses of software files and sold the on his website Crack99.com (Seper, 2013). What is so striking about this case is that these cracked software programs were sold for the express purpose of mass-producing more. In essence, Mr. Li earned one hundred million dollars off of high-end sales, but there is no way to calculate the loss exacted from subsequent resales or free downloads. For his crimes, Mr. Li could be sentenced to 25 years in prison with a $250,000 fine (Seper, 2013). This weighty sentence exemplifies how serious the government is cracking down copyright infringement. An ongoing debate has been evolving over the role of digital copyrights in the future. Some proponents of legislation may violate consumer rights (Musick, 2004). Digital products have always been limited in their profitability because they are
March 3, 2012
American Digital Media Copyright Issues
Introduction Copyrighting digital media is a balancing act for the U.S. government. The digitization of entertainment (i.e. music, movies, software, books, etcetera) makes legislating difficult. Copyright owners seek to maintain the intellectual property of their creative works. On the other hand, consumers want the freedom to use their purchases—of copyrighted products—in various ways: sometimes in ways prohibited by law. On the other hand, certain uses of digital media products have no legal precedent. As a result, the landscape of copyright law is continuously adapting to consumer demands and other forces within the economy. The usual complaint surrounding copyright infringement is revenue lost from pirating. A Washington Times article reported two months ago about a man—Xiang Li, a Chinese national—pleading guilty to “conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement and wire fraud in the distribution of more than [one hundred million dollars worth] of pirated software around the world.” Mr. Li disabled the “access control features” and digital licenses of software files and sold the on his website Crack99.com (Seper, 2013). What is so striking about this case is that these cracked software programs were sold for the express purpose of mass-producing more. In essence, Mr. Li earned one hundred million dollars off of high-end sales, but there is no way to calculate the loss exacted from subsequent resales or free downloads. For his crimes, Mr. Li could be sentenced to 25 years in prison with a $250,000 fine (Seper, 2013). This weighty sentence exemplifies how serious the government is cracking down copyright infringement. An ongoing debate has been evolving over the role of digital copyrights in the future. Some proponents of legislation may violate consumer rights (Musick, 2004). Digital products have always been limited in their profitability because they are
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