Intellectual Property: The Ethical Implications Of File Sharing - Term Paper Example

 Intellectual Property: The ethical implications of file sharing Introduction The technological advancements have reached new paramount and massive development in this industry has been recorded daily. Technologies always bring negative and positive aspect along with it- primarily it depends upon the usage and practice of it. Intellectual property basically means that protecting exclusive rights of the owner which are recognized in the market. The ethical implication of file sharing however has been under a lot of discussion from the past decade or so and different opinions regarding this matter have been recorded till date. Sharing a file without the permission of the legal owner is however illegal and immoral but some people have find loopholes into this matter. The rule of law is the legitimate answer to every query so laws have been developed regarding intellectual property sharing and protections. Violations of this law can be however seen throughout the world and is fundamentally due to the widespread spectrum of internet. In developed countries such as United Kingdom, U.S, Canada and Australia; implementation of file sharing laws is very strict and prior measures are taken in case of violation (Smyth & Richard, p. 187). The intention of writing this paper is to develop an understanding that what are the impacts of file sharing on the society, boundaries and limits in which a file can be shared without disturbing the legal owner rights, examining and analysing the business scenario of file sharing, legality of the issue and making a precise judgement that whether this act is right or wrong. The Illegal Access Intellectual property distribution is quite often stated as piracy in case of no permission from the owner’s end. Internet has been the main root cause behind this whole issue. The main industries which are under surveillance of file sharing are music, film, books, software, literary documents etc. Different internet portals facilitate these services for free. The scenario is prevalent in such a mechanism that a certain individual purchases a genuine music or movie file from the legal online store or shop by paying the prescribed amount. Afterwards that individual either uploads to its internet portal website, torrent or burns various CD’s, DVD’s through it and distributes among the masses for free or by charging a very nominal amount. This whole mechanism in the sight of law is considered illegal (Lemley, p.27) The masses however consider this work as saving money and legal. In this whole mechanism, the legal owner/creator and official distributor of the file get nothing in return and have to face loss at its end. The whole piracy thing comes into action after an individual purchases it and distributes it illegally among the masses without legal permission or authority. This not only disturbs the whole business setup but also creates an immoral situation for the creator/inventor who does a lot of effort in producing a product and gets nothing as a reward due to the illegal file sharing (Svensson & Stefan, p.32). Core Issues The core issues regarding illegal intellectual property prevalence are that legal owners don’t get their right. The piracy distributors get lions share by doing illegitimate business which is totally wrong. This mechanism discourages the innovators, creators in producing a new product as open violation of their intellectual property rights is resentful. Legal status of intellectual property is considered throughout the globe as imprisonment and huge fines are imposed on the law violator but still the piracy vast has been expanded so much that whom law enforcement agencies will caught and whom not (Lametti, p.75). (Lemley, p.59) illustrates that copyright infringement is yet another issue relevant to this debate in which legal attained rights such as logo’s and trademark registered products are distributed without the consent of the legal owner. Many huge companies have sued individuals for violating their intellectual property rights. The basic game which prevails is that the actual producer of the product who has full legal rights of a product gains nothing after the all hard work he does and the piracy people make money solely through this wrong act. Internet has been the biggest facilitator of file sharing scenario and piracy people overwhelming majority is found there who the root causes of this whole mechanism are. Impacts on the society The impacts of file sharing on the society are not very positive as the scenario of grabbing other people rights prevails. Grasping the rights of others gives an impression that immoral activities should be given a legal status which is totally wrong. Another issue which is visible on the society is that people now prefer pirated stuff instead of the genuine one. There are several reasons behind this tragic downfall of the society. At first the thing is that pirated stuff comes for free and people can enjoy latest movies, books, music and software’s for free, staying at their homes by not even paying a single penny. Another reason is that accessibility ease is quite phenomenal. On internet there are numerous websites which provide free of cost downloading services so nobody has to go out from their homes for purchasing a particular entertainment product (Svensson & Stefan, p.44). Most importantly now people have started accepting the piracy products wholeheartedly. This depicts the demise of the society as it discourages the real producer of the product. Future innovators are also discouraged and an element of intrinsic motivation is thus not present in them anymore. There is still a majority who is against the pirated products and prefer legal products at any cost. This thing encourages the actual creators, producers and distributors of the product. The extravagant advantages which an individual gets by purchasing the original product are something to talk about as bonus items are always there to attract the customers (Lametti, p.121). The deliberate discussion of this issue however presumes as there are two big sects present in the society; one is against the piracy of products and the other is for pirated products. The arguments given by both the parties are quite strong and appealing but still law has defined the mechanism of violation of intellectual property as illegal, immoral and unlawful. Severe punishments are also imposed on the violators (Lemley, p.71) Business Scenario The intention of an artist of any industry is to do a handsome business and get value & recognition of his work. Unfortunately the current scenario prevalent is not very encouraging and is pretty distracted. The business setup due to piracy is getting affected a lot. The distributors of artists, who have legal rights to sell out the products, suffer the most and hence their business goes in total loss. The most common argument from the people who share files are that official distributors have huge business setups and they don’t mind if a little loss is faced through file sharing as they have already gained enough profits. Another proposition is that piracy allows the customers to think before purchasing the original CD as pirated stuff escorts as a guide that whether an individual should spend the money on original stuff or not (Smyth & Richard, p. 180). (Lametti, p.75) describe that the arguments from the artists and distributors seems quite valid in this regard as they first of all raise the basic ethical issue that producer of the product is unaware about the distribution channel of its creation which gives a straight view that his creation is theft. Secondly the works of the artist are not public property that whoever can get it by paying nothing; everything comes with a price. A spider web with limitless strings is created if even a single file is shared for free on the internet thus nobody comes and pays the money to purchase the original product which is a big loss for the producer. This whole dilemma is against producer and distributor thus illegal file sharing must be stopped is the demand of artists. Ethical Dilemma Due to the enormous continuum of file sharing on the internet; discussion regarding ethical or unethical file sharing seems irrelevant. People have now openly accepted that file sharing is not a problem instead it’s a facility. The society responds to file sharing that every person of the society is not well off and hence cannot pay for original products. Internet is thus a tool and an important instrument for providing entertainment to masses for free. People think that they are already under a lot of stress due to taxes, economical situation and other worldly affairs; discussion of ethics in file sharing is hence of no importance in their sight (Lemley, p.96). The observance of such behaviour depicts the bitter realities of our societies that file sharing, which is an unlawful act is considered legal. This presents a picture that ethics and values are diminishing from the society at a slow but at a steady pace. If intellectual property sharing is considered legal by most of the people than sooner will be the day when theft and robberies of money and jewellery will be also considered legal as robbers were facing financial issues. This system of illegal file sharing must be stopped at any cost so that society would be protected from furthermore future dilemmas (Smyth & Richard, p. 184). Steps to be taken The issue of file sharing has been reformed throughout the years so that it would be given legality in certain ways. The essential step taken in the past couple of years or so is that renowned file sharing websites are asked to charge a very nominal charges for each download so that they would distribute the original file, generate profits for themselves and also the artist gets its share from it. This dimension was even applauded by the masses too as they had to pay a very little amount for the original product. People these days are also not satisfied from the quality of pirated items so they prefer paying a little for the original products. Various file sharing websites started this myth and attained promising results (Svensson & Stefan, p.67). File sharing can be reduced if media trial of the illegal file distributors would occur. There are many examples of illegal file distributors who were fined millions of dollars for the illegal distribution on their respective websites. Media trial in this regard is vital and important. If media openly trials the guilty than people would realize that this thing is wrong. Awareness campaigns act as the backbone due to their massive impacts. People these days follow NGO movements religiously so NGO’s have to take an initiative in educating people about this curse (Lametti, p.98) Conclusion The above illustrated debate gives a clear depiction that file sharing for free is totally depraved and unethical. It creates a huge hole in the environment and the legal owner does not get the reward for its product. The laws created for the protection of legal rights are quite helpful and people have filed lawsuits with respect to it. File sharing mechanism and spectrum has expanded so much that it cannot be stopped at once but prior steps can lead to the path of ultimate success and triumph. The factors affecting this issue are that there are many countries in the world where this law has not been implemented in its true spirits. Thus uploading files from that region prevails this dreadful scenario. The laws of developed nations such as U.S and Europe ensure punishments too and there have been several cases; thus file sharing in these countries has been reduced but there are still some black sheep in the society. Internet is the main source of distribution network throughout the globe and it cannot stop people from uploading files. People have now gradually started to understand that file sharing for free is wrong and therefore they also discourage individuals from taking part in this prohibited act. Curse and illegality cannot be demolished all over the globe, hence file sharing cannot be totally controlled but it can be reduced magnificently. Work Cited Lemley, Mark. "Intellectual property and shrink wrap licenses," Available at SSRN 2126845 (2012) Svensson, Måns, and Stefan Larsson, "Intellectual property law compliance in Europe: Illegal file sharing and the role of social norms." New Media & Society (2012) Smyth, Stuart J., and Richard Gray, "Intellectual property sharing agreements in gene technology: implications for research and commercialisation." International Journal of Intellectual Property Management 4.3 (2011): 179-190. Lametti, David. "The Virtuous P (eer): Reflections on the Ethics of File Sharing." (2011). Read More