The Downloading and Sharing Intellectual Properties Online Ethically Justifiable or not - Essay Example

Is downloading or sharing intellectual properties online ethically justifiable, if you have not paid and the owners have not given consent Introduction Over the years, a vicious battle has been waged by the (RIAA), Recording Industry Association of America against consumers of music throughout the country especially on the issue of downloading and sharing music. There has been a heated debate concerning the morality of sharing and downloading music videos, games and the like from the internet. While some people argue that the enforcement of such laws to prevent people from downloading and sharing music are way out of line and they only deprive individuals their liberty to enjoy music after all, thus, the fact that such music is readily available on the internet negates the issue of unethical practices when such music is downloaded or shared (Cheney et al 14). On the other hand, recording companies and musicians claim that such an act is unethical and illegal owing to the fact that it infringes on the intellectual property right of the owners and as such depriving them of their rightful share. I do think it is not ethically justifiable. Now although sharing or downloading intellectual properties without permission is illegal. According to Reynolds, the term intellectual property is used to describe and individuals legal entitlements which is related to that individual inventions, media recordings and writing, or even names (13). There are various exclusive rights that the holder of such legal entitlements may exercise in relation to the intellectual property subject matter. The subject matter of intellectual property is therefore the product of the intellect or the mind and thus, they are comparable to physical property (Fritz and Vaidya 21). The (RIAA) Recording Industry Association of America is a trade association formed by the government that supervises all the labels, take action on behalf of the artists and their labels in matters such as legal issues relating to the industry like for instance piracy. Discussion From the foregoing, the opponents of the file sharing and downloading are of the view that such an act is unethical and detrimental to the artists since as they argue, once an individual download or share files and copyright of the artists, it amounts to making a private property into a public property. Furthermore, once the files are shared or downloaded, the copyright owner and indeed the artist do not receive any reimbursement as he or she ought to receive. To the opponent of copying and sharing files, the act is indeed unethical and amounts to stealing same as the act of shoplifting. In addition to the foregoing, the opponents of the file sharing and downloading espouses that the act does not only reduce the income of bands and actors, it also affects the income of other staff who work with these artists and bands in the industry. In the film industry for instance, the makeup artists as well as the set builders take the fall as a result of file sharing and copying. It is further argued that in the event that an individual download or share a movie from the internet, the individual is not likely to buy the DVD of the movie or even go and watch such a movie from a theatre. In the event of such an occurrence, the profits made by the production studios are significantly reduced and the possibility of the production studio not recuperating the production costs which are far above the ground cannot be overruled. Consequently, salary decrement becomes the order of the day amongst the employees in the industry who work tirelessly to get a better life. As if that is not enough, the act of file sharing and copying leads to reduced financial backing for both the independent and mainstream filmmakers and song writers since investing a lot of money in the industry becomes more risky than ever before (Lenk 14). The advocates of the sharing files and downloading artists work from the internet on the other hand argue that, such an act is not in any way unethical but on the contrary it assists the industry in question by giving the consumers an opportunity to sample the product available in the industry before digging in their pockets to purchase such products. In support of their argument, the proponents of file sharing and downloading claim that, often than not, the movies and video games found on the internet are not of full quality, most of the times they do not have some material such as DVD bonus features or instruction manual. For that reason, once an individual download or share such a file, he is given an opportunity to sample the product and might even decide to buy the full version. It is therefore the contention of the advocates of the act that if the industry products are not sampled by consumers, they might not be bought as they are since very few people would know about them (Tavani 24). Some of the pro-file sharing are of the view that buying a full CD is way too expensive compared to the decreasing production cost coupled with the fact that in a full CD a consumer may only be interested in one or two songs therein. As such the consumers feel that they do not have to pay for the entire cost of the CD and yet the songs have not been produced as singles. As internet expand and develop, there has been an increasing number of persons spying on the activities of cyberspace for different motives, ranging from commercial, criminal, academic research, law enforcement or for other reasons. In recent years however, owners of private copyrights have taken a particular interest in surveillance of the file sharing activities via the internet in an effort to keep an eye on act of copyright infringement (Straubhaar et al 22). Some of the copyright owners after gathering enough evidence of their copyright infringement have instituted lawsuits against anonymous infringers applying to the court for grant of an order requiring ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to unveil the infringers’ identities. This state create a dilemma for the court in the task of balancing the intellectual property rights of copyright owners as well as the right to privacy that is inherent to internet users. Conclusion In America, surveillance by the private copyright owners and the (RIAA) Recording Industry Association of America is indeed an erosion of the privacy of internet users’ right of privacy. Due to the fact that the law of copyright is quiet complex and uncertain, such surveillance is difficult to justify. As a matter of fact, many internet users who share and download files are not aware whether or not such activities constitute intellectual property copyright infringement. In addition a good number of internet users who engage in downloading and file sharing are also ignorant of the severe penalties of being embattled for infringing copyright. For that reason, in the event the court makes an order to disclose personal information about the internet user who download and share files, then, the protection of intellectual property rights of copyright owners would be achieved at a greater cost to the privacy rights of the users. For purposes of striking a balance between intellectual property protection of copyright owners and the privacy of internet users, the judiciary and the Internet Service Providers can play a significant role in ensure piracy is wiped out through balancing fairly the intellectual property rights against privacy right. Since the Internet Service Providers act as a bridge between the World Wide Web and the internet users, it can use the technical ability deter, record and monitor their customers especially on activities related to file sharing and downloading that would amount to copy right infringement (Berkman and Shumway 33). As the surveillance intensifies, the judiciary has also to come in and protect the privacy of internet users from possible uncertain and spurious claims founded on evidence that is erratic. Work Cited Berkman, R and Shumway, C. Digital dilemmas: ethical issues for online media professionals, John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Print. Cheney, G., et al .The handbook of communication ethics, Taylor & Francis, 2010. Print. Fritz, A and Vaidya, A. Business in Ethical Focus: An Anthology, Broadview Press, 2008. Print. Lenk, C. Ethics and law of intellectual property: current problems in politics, science and Technology, Ashgate Publishing Ltd, 2007. Print. Reynolds, G. Ethics in Information Technology, Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Straubhaar, J., et al. Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print. Tavani, H. Ethics and Technology: Controversies, Questions, and Strategies for Ethical Computing, John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print. Read More