Joshua Coon
Christian. Student. Photographer.
2/24/2017 0 Comments Preventing PiracyIn the age of the internet, we have access to an unending abyss of content on the web. In most cases, this unprecedented access is a good thing. We can access information like never before in human history. Alongside the development and growth of the internet, the content that we consume has also transitioned into being mostly digital and intangible. One of the first to make the leap from physical to digital was the music industry. Applications like iTunes were released in the early 2000s and pioneered an entirely new way for content creators to generate revenue. But just as long as there has been things of value, there have been people wanting to steal those valuable things. Services like Napster, a peer to peer audio file sharing website, grew in popularity as users shared and downloaded copyrighted music without paying. Ever since then, there has been a raging battle between the media industry and millions of people trying to skirt the cost of the content. Digital piracy has almost become like breaking the speed limit. The ‘everyone has done it’ mentality has widely become justification. (And just like speeding, you can probably get away with it a couple of times before you’re caught.) Though, it is extremely difficult for media companies actually punish people for stealing their content. Because the means of preventing piracy by way of law is fragmented from nation to nation, big content providers have now begun working alongside companies like Google and Microsoft to curb the problem. Most, if not all of the web browsing that we do starts with a search engine, the copyright media industry has asked Google and Microsoft to decrease the visibility of piracy related links. This simply increases the difficulty of discovering websites that hosts pirated content. While these new tactics may prove to be helpful, will Google and Microsoft’s decision to censor the web set an unhealthy precedent on suppressing the open web? Since search engines are essentially portals to the internet, is it Google and Microsoft’s place to censor information? Although I’m a huge advocate for an open and free web, I would argue that it is permissible (possibly even necessary) for search engines to reduce piracy. Just like search engines report and censor child pornography, search engines should likewise make an effort to prevent illegal downloads and distribution of copyrighted content. As a nation, we have become used to the digital media content that we consume on a daily basis. This opened the door to millions of jobs producing this media. It’s our responsibility, and the responsibility of companies like Google and Microsoft to help protect this industry and their ability to continue creating the content that we so dearly love.
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