ACTA and Internet Counterfeiting - Essay Example

?ACTA and Internet Counterfeiting As a medium of e-commerce, communication and other activities that necessitate transmission of data over long distances, the internet is remarkably effective. Its usefulness in the modern-day world has been made possible by the technological developments, which have made high-speed broadband easily available even in the remotest of places with considerable effectiveness and dependability at relatively low costs. As an e-commerce medium, it is used as a payment medium through PayPal, VISA and other online payment systems. Moreover, it is the medium through which softcopy products like eBooks, software, online courses and other products are delivered. Since most of these activities involve transmission of sensitive information about people and more so customers, the information passing through the internet is encrypted such that the information encoded by the server can only be decoded by the client’s terminal and vice versa (Illing and Peitz, 2006: 102). This means that information being transmitted over encrypted networks cannot be accessed by third parties. This security property of the internet is priceless since it helps to sustain the faith that suppliers and consumers have on the internet; however, it also poses one of the major challenges in regulation of content being transmitted over the internet. It enables the internet to be used for transmission of information, a large portion of which is unauthorised for electronic transmission (Biagi, 2011). Such information includes transmission of age-inappropriate content, rumours and propaganda that may undermine peace and stability, and copyrighted material. Censorship for inappropriate content can be easily implemented at a country or state level; however, transmission of copyrighted material like music, eBooks and software is hard to control since sharing networks entails use of multiple servers located all over the globe (Hertwig and Maus, 2010: 60). This necessitates the adoption of a common regulatory system, whereby countries work together to enforce antipiracy regulations. This essay discusses the effects of internet infringement of property rights and copyrights and discusses the adoption of ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement), especially in the European Union. Technical Factors Historically duplication of copyrighted materials has always happened; however, the internet offered a channel that made the process quite easy to achieve with little skill level. Moreover, the vastness of the internet and its high rate of growth make any attempt to control its content an exercise in futility. Moreover, the technical knowledge of computer networking specialists gives them the ability to bypass any efforts by regulators, which is the main reason for proliferation of illegal websites (Woodsworth, 2010: 185). Moreover, developments in the information technology sector resulted in the proliferation of highly efficient but cheap IT equipment, which increased the number of servers, terminals and other devices beyond the scope of regulatory bodies. In order to cover the increased usage of the internet for illegal purposes, all stakeholders had to be incorporated in the process, which was the main motive of the implementers of ACTA. The other factor that leads to a high proliferation of computer piracy of software and other copyrighted materials is the capacity of network connections to work in both directions, such that information flows to or from a terminal in the same way it does to a server. This allows network terminals like workstations, personal computers and other devices to be used as sources of data, especially as used in peer-to-peer protocols like BitTorrent (Hunnewell and Garlick, 2007). These networks allow users to share data in their computers with other users without the need for a server; which makes it almost impossible to detect the circulation of copyrighted material since pieces of the software or other content are usually spread throughout the terminals in the networks. In this case, remarkably few computers in the network have the complete file, which makes arrest and prosecution difficult since one cannot be prosecuted for owning an unusable piece of software. Socioeconomic Factors The main socioeconomic factor of internet piracy is the financial losses resulting from infringement of copyright laws, especially since software packages like operating systems, utility software, games, office processors among others are expensive to produce (Pang, 2012). For instance, the upcoming Windows 8 operating system by Microsoft has been under development since the release of Windows 7 in 2009, which means that the operating system that has not yet been released has been under production for close to 4 years. All this time, Microsoft has been paying its developers and other employees, as well as paying other fixed and variable costs. Therefore, producing software and other products is an intensive venture in terms of time and financial resources. Companies develop software in the hope that their products will be bought in high numbers enough to pay for the cost of production, and have enough remaining to keep the firm afloat to continue with further research and development of future products (Larsson, 2011: 124). In the peer-to-peer networks, one or more of the users buy the original software, make modifications to it to avoid detection by the manufacturer, and then upload it for others to use. This is an illegal practice since every piece of software has one licence authorising for the software to be used by a limited number of users. Socially, sharing results in a culture of malice whereby people want to use the products of the efforts of others without paying for them. For instance, proprietary software is usually of a higher quality than freeware; however, one has to pay for the former in order to enjoy the premium features of the package. Moreover, pirating promotes irresponsibility as a person who has not paid for a product is less likely to use it for its intended purpose. Though there are open source software equivalents for their proprietary counterparts, people prefer not to use them as they have limited functionality and usability (Woodsworth, 2010). Discussion Pirated material is usually modified to prevent detection; in the process of modification, a bug may be introduced that may cause system instability. In addition, viruses, Trojans and spyware may be introduced into the software code and may result in reduced security or infringement of the privacy of internet users. Spyware may be used for phishing for personal information that may be used for identity theft among other cybercrimes (Stamatoudi, 2010: 81). These and other disadvantages of internet piracy that are the reason why regulators decided to formulate policy to limit the vice. However, before enacting the policy, other stakeholders should have been consulted, including conducting surveys on users to identify their most common reasons for using the internet (Dinwoodie and Dreyfuss, 2012: 43). The technical and socioeconomic effects of internet piracy discussed above show a need for a form of regulation on activities in the internet; however, this should be done with caution due to the number of people involve among other underlying factors. Advantages of ACTA The internet has been blamed for the deterioration of the music industry, whereby copies of original music are freely available in sharing sites. The regulators were worried that the same fate would befall the publishing and the software industries; the role of the new policy would be to ensure that end users got genuine and functional products, and producers reaped the benefits of their efforts through the sale of their products (Miller, Vandome and McBrewster, 2011). The regulation would enable producers to track the use of their products, offer support to customers, and produce product upgrades but not for shortcomings brought about by piracy. Disadvantages of ACTA The internet was designed to facilitate formal and informal communications without limitations of any form; the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement violates this principle. For instance, for governments to enforce ACTA in their jurisdictions, they would have to screen all messages sent through the internet (Lewis and Frankel, 2010). This results in infringement of the basic right of freedom of privacy in communication; especially since governments could use the convention as an excuse to censor online content or a medium to limit the information that is available for the people (Alam, Klein and Overland, 2011: 147). Economically, ACTA would result in reduced revenue for companies that offer data solutions; peer-to-peer account for a big portion of data transmitted worldwide. This effect would affect employees in these firms since reduced revenue may cause these firms to contemplate downsizing their workforce. Many people earn a livelihood by engaging in activities related to peer-to-peer networks; these people may lose their source of income if these networks are closed. Moreover, peer-to-peer networks are not just used for sharing copyrighted works, the main motive for having these networks is to enable people to share open source software, which may be limited in case ACTA becomes fully operational. Conclusion Unauthorized copying of copyright products is an illegal practice that not only results in financial losses to producers, but also erodes social morals as people do things they do not have to just because they can. For instance, people modify the works of others and redistribute it as if it were their own, which is the main reason why the internet needs regulation of some sort by an independent body. Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is one of the attempts to get governments to work together in the fight against internet counterfeiting; however, the policy was received negatively by the internet users. This is because the regulators implementing the policy did not consult users, who are the people to be affected most by the agreement once implemented. Therefore, though ACTA may be implemented in the long run, it should be modified to prevent infringement of basic human rights. References Alam, S., Klein, N., & Overland, J. (2011) Globalisation and the quest for social and environmental justice: the relevance of international law in an evolving world order, Taylor & Francis. Biagi, S. (2011) Media impact: an introduction to mass media, Cengage Learning. Dinwoodie, G.B., & Dreyfuss, R.C. (2012) A neofederalist vision of trips: the resilience of the international intellectual property regime, Oxford University Press. Hertwig, J., & Maus, S. (2010) Global risks: constructing world order through law, Politics and Economics, Peter Lang. Hunnewell, L., & Garlick, M. (2007) Internet piracy, ABDO. Illing, G., & Peitz, M. (2006) Industrial organization and the digital economy, MIT Press. Larsson, S. (2011) Metaphors and norms: understanding copyright law in a digital society, Stefan Larsson. Lewis, M.K., & Frankel, S. (2010) International economic law and national autonomy, Cambridge University Press. Miller, F.P., Vandome, F.A., & McBrewster, J. (2011) Anti-counterfeiting trade agreement, Alphascript Publishing. Pang, L. (2012) Creativity and its discontents: china’s creative industries and intellectual property rights offenses, Duke University Press. Stamatoudi, I.A. (2010) Copyright enforcement and the internet, Kluwer Law International. Woodsworth, A. (2010) Exploring the digital frontier, Emerald Group Publishing. Read More