POLICE & THIEF - 5 views
started by Magdaleine on 26 Aug 09
started by Magdaleine on 26 Aug 09
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started by Magdaleine on 26 Aug 09
Summary:
Almost 100% of those polled in survey agreed that thieving from a physical store is illegal and wrong. However about 44per cent of Singaporeans think that illegal downloads of copyrighted material is not considered theft. Yet 80% of them acknowledge that this is illegal.
The authorities here are now studying a new 'three strikes' law to curb illegal downloads. Illegal downloaders will be warned thrice before their accounts are terminated by their Internet service providers.
Problem/things to think about:
Most people think that because digital media have no physical content (i.e. in digital bits only), it is not as a serious problem as stealing a physical and tangible item from a store or someone else. Many argued that it is similar to borrowing a CD from a friend to listen; they are still not purchasing the CD. Also, it may serve as a "sample" for them before deciding if it is good enough for them to spend their money on.
Without a physical product does not mean the digital content has no value. Digital content are such to save the cost of producing a CD or print a book. It is just another format of displaying the content. So is illegal downloads really unethical? Is diminishing copyrights on digital content worthy a fight?
I would think that downloading of the music content is neutral. But the legality is of the question. Because we live in a capitalistic society, we are acculturated to think that "taking without permission" is theft, thus illegal.
But notice these music are often downloaded from torrent portals, where the smaller bits of information are "pooled" together to form the actual file? This is no different from a collective society where whatever my neighbour and I have harvested is placed in a central pool, where everyone can access. This neutralizes the legality notion. =)
Moreover, "illegal download" was coined by the big media fishes, whom have lobbied for constitutions such as DMCA and WIPO regulations, thus by imposing the such laws on fellow humans, have the violated the "Golden Rule"?
=)
Magdaleine wrote:
> http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,211631,00.html?
>
> Summary:
> Almost 100% of those polled in survey agreed that thieving from a physical store is illegal and wrong. However about 44per cent of Singaporeans think that illegal downloads of copyrighted material is not considered theft. Yet 80% of them acknowledge that this is illegal.
>
> The authorities here are now studying a new 'three strikes' law to curb illegal downloads. Illegal downloaders will be warned thrice before their accounts are terminated by their Internet service providers.
>
> Problem/things to think about:
> Most people think that because digital media have no physical content (i.e. in digital bits only), it is not as a serious problem as stealing a physical and tangible item from a store or someone else. Many argued that it is similar to borrowing a CD from a friend to listen; they are still not purchasing the CD. Also, it may serve as a "sample" for them before deciding if it is good enough for them to spend their money on.
>
> Without a physical product does not mean the digital content has no value. Digital content are such to save the cost of producing a CD or print a book. It is just another format of displaying the content. So is illegal downloads really unethical? Is diminishing copyrights on digital content worthy a fight?