Computer Ethics: Torrents/Filesharing

John Cunningham
CSCE 4010
Spring 2013
Piracy and File Sharing With the exponential growth of technology over the past decade there have been many unforeseen controversial issues that have emerged. One of the main issues being the pirating of copyrighted material. With the invention of the internet, the sharing of information had become increasingly easier. But it was not until people began sharing copyrighted material that it became an ethical issue. The internet was used as a legal free exchange of information between people, but when people began using it to share music, software, etc. the morality of the internet became a little murky. One of the most famous instances of piracy was the invention of a Peer-2-Peer application. Napster was invented in 1999 by an 18 year old college dropout named Shawn Fanning. The purpose of this program was to allow the sharing of files between people via the internet. This idea evolved, and people started using it to upload CD’s that they had purchased and allowing other people to obtain this music for free, turning Napster into one of the first controversial internet piracy issues. The problem with Napster was that people stopped buying CD’s and were downloading them through Napster. This caused huge companies such as Universal and Sony to lose large amounts of money due to the downfall of record sales. Herein lies the ethical dilemma (cracked.com). This was someone’s way of using the internet’s free exchange of information to manipulate the law and make a profit for himself. Due to the lack of technology/internet laws at the time Napster was allowed to continue their file sharing until March 5, 2001 when a District Court Judge issued a preliminary injunction ordering Napster to remove all of the plaintiff’s ,A&M Records, copyrighted material (History.com) . After that Napster began the proverbial downward spiral and never recovered. Napster was only the beginning. Shortly after the invention of Napster several other P2P programs began being released that were doing the exact same thing as Napster. Programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, Bearshare and Frostwire are only a few of the many that began to pop up. All these programs followed the same basic outline as Napster; people could get music for free. These programs too slowly died off, but their creation stimulated an evolution in the file sharing community. Soon torrents began to arise. With torrents people were now gaining access to pirated software worth thousands of dollars with programs like Adobe Creative Suites and Microsoft Office that were worth $500-$1500(ehow.com). These losses are still being suffered because of the lack of control of copyrighted material. Technology will continue to grow and evolve as long as we do. It is our moral obligation to keep up with technology so as to protect businesses, bands and individuals from the vulture-like population who would rather steal something off the internet than pay for it themselves. Companies such as Apple have had great progress with invention of iTunes, which is very similar to a file sharing program, but still charges money for their products which in turn makes money for the original creators. I believe there are a lot more steps that need to be taken, but at least somebody is on the right path.
Works Cited:

1.) http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-spiral-of-napster-begins, © 1996-2013, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 2.) http://www.ehow.com/how_6459336_movies-internet.html, 1999-2013 Demand Media, Inc. 3.) http://www.cracked.com/funny-4101-the-history-internet-piracy, © 2007-2013. Demand Media, Inc.

Cited: 1.) http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-death-spiral-of-napster-begins, © 1996-2013, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 2.) http://www.ehow.com/how_6459336_movies-internet.html, 1999-2013 Demand Media, Inc. 3.) http://www.cracked.com/funny-4101-the-history-internet-piracy, © 2007-2013. Demand Media, Inc.