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Situation: Recently, Kayne West was caught looking at music software on Pirate Bay. Although there's no evidence that he downloaded anything, his internet search for software add-ons highlights how much software the music industry uses illegally. These softwares, such as synthesizers, composers, sequencers, etc, are available on the internet for free and are easily found on torrent sites. An array of music producers use software illegally, from people to just starting out by making music in their bedroom to people that have made millions from their music. Social and Ethical Significance: Influence on Public - If there are these major music producers illegally using software, then what's to stop the rest of the public from doing the same thing. People look up to these artists and may think that if those people can do it and get away with it, so can they. However, the opposite could be true if these artists are punished or called out for their actions. People could then see it is wrong and that they could be caught too. Another effect the widespread downloading of illegal software by artists could have is that it would lessen the value of their music. People could refuse to pay for their music and download it illegally. "The irony is that musicians and music producers, far more than most other creative professionals, have been hit especially hard by the wave of digital piracy that washed over the world nearly two decades ago" (Willens). So musicians are creating their music illegally and the public listens to that music illegally. Maybe a solution is to not have music be an industry that is profitable. Violation of Intellectual Property - "Widespread availability has created an endemic problem for software makers, who sometimes see piracy rates north of 90 percent for their creations" (Willens). The Internet has made it so easy to download unlicensed software. These are softwares that people put time an effort into creating. A generalization about s

Situation: Digital Piracy can be publicly and officially classified as an offence or a violation of intellectual property. However, there are many violations in the present time, that people don't think are morally wrong. Social and Ethical Significance: The article takes the opening example of the new Game of Thrones episode which comes out on HBO, and how millions of individuals who wouldn't be able to watch it during the screening time, would download the episode illegally to watch it. It's true, that at some point or the other, people would tend to use means of digital piracy to receive what they cannot without it. Now, it's true, that all assets, ideas and artistic creations be held in common, and kept free for all. They believe that intellectual property, in the form of copyrighted information restricts that idea and creation. There exist these individuals that consider illegal downloading a crime, and that it wouldn't impose any sort of cost on anybody. However, there do exist "fundamentalist protectors" that would believe that illegal downloading equivalent to theft. This article speaks about the ethical considerations of why digital piracy occurs and why it's an issue not very publicly criticised upon. Stakeholders: Producers - Those who take countless hours creating the movie/audio that would be pirated. End users - Those people who would like to watch/listen to the movie/audio clip so that they receive more public entertainment.

I enjoyed reading the article you selected and your analysis of it. The thought that when stealing an object, your gain is their lost, but when stealing a movie or music, the cost is not the same as the gain, is an interesting perspective. Do you agree more with the "fundamentalist libertarians" or "fundamentalist protecters"?

In the article, the author describes how the music label, Sony, was creating an anti-piracy software to try and stop piracy in 2001 with Michael Jackson's song. They were unsuccessful in the beginning of their studies, because of a radio company played the song without being authorized. Sony was hoping that recent online piracy websites would not destroy the sales of Jackson's album. Even today, their are many record companies that have the same worries. Today, piracy is even more severe, because once a copy of a song is released on the internet, it is readily available to everyone to listen to and download. The hackers used a software/website called Napster to create MP3s (converted from the CDs), and send them across the internet. A way artists are trying to stop this problem, is to not allow free streaming networks to play their songs without pay. This allows the artists to be successful, and also is a way to try and stop illegal downloading of songs and albums. It is expensive to create an album, Jackson's took $28 million and 3 years; the artist should at least be able to have success, and not have to worry about trolls pirating their music.

Singers such as Katy Perry, Bryan Adams and Christina Aguilera are among hundreds in the music industry calling on US lawmakers to reform online piracy law. 2 stakeholders: Songwriters and artists, as well as the people who purchase/download their works online or in stores