Internet Distribution

In his article ôPaying for the sins of their users: liability and growing uncertainty in a digital age,ö John Lobato addresses the realm of cyberspace, comparing it to the Wild West in terms of its battle with piracy and copyright infringement (357). The virtual world of Internet crime is markedly different of the physical world of crime; there are no fingerprints, DNA tests, witnesses, or landmarks for detecting criminals, and the Internet facilitates the anonymity of the perpetrator. The issue of distributors handing out products used by third parties ôfor the purposes of copyright infringementö is becoming increasingly troublesome. Although finding the criminals that do this is easyùInternet sites openly make ôpirated music and videoàavailable for free download through online servicesöùthe courts have yet to find a solution for the problem and are ôactively debating the merits of holding liable the distributors of products that enable the infringement of copyrightö (Lobato 357).

Lobato discusses the response of the courts to the increasing number of court cases involving the Internet and copyright infringement. He examines the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) suit in 2000 against two distributors of free online software, Grokster and Streamcast Networks, charging that they intentionally distributed their software to enable users to make illegal copies of copyrighted works in violation of the Copyright Act (Lobato 35

. . .
cy on moral and ethical grounds, yet confines his argument to proving that stopping Internet piracy is a difficult task and that the courts are not truly equipped to handle it. The thrust of his article is to demonstrate how and why Internet piracy is hard to stop by legal means and to characterize the confusion and lack of concrete laws and rulings that might address the issue more directly. He challenges the common belief that although Internet piracy is rampant, the courts will take care of it for us; as he makes clear in his article, so far they have not been able to do much, and the matter might better be moved to Congress instead. In the second article, ôMP3s are killing home taping: the rise of Internet distribution and its challenge to the major label music monopoly,ö Kembrew McLeod does a play on words, ironically recalling the lament of the 1980Æs that ôhome taping is killing music,öùa problem that he points out is now greatly overshadowed by the problem of unauthorized Internet distribution in todayÆs environment (521). McLeodÆs argument focuses on the challenge that the trading of copyrighted music poses to major music labels, threatening their music monopoly that has been in place for a century. He contends that
. . .

Some common words found in the essay are:
Justice SouterÆs, Kembrew McLeod, Wild West, Dave Marsh, Surprisingly McLeod, Internetö McLeod, EnemyÆs Chuck, Act Lobato, McLeod Kembrew, Streamcast Networks, internet piracy, major label, internet distribution, music industry, copyright infringement, label music, major label music, music companies, distribution challenge major, challenge major, distribution challenge, rise internet distribution, music monopolyö, internet distribution challenge, challenge major label,
Approximate Word count = 1475
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Internet Distribution