After reading this article, it is shocking how quickly "suspected" pirates are named guilty of pirating digital movies and music solely from their IP (internet protocol) addresses. What the film industry failed to take into consideration, is that just because an IP address can be traced, is it being traced to the correct perpetrator? Like the article mentioned, an IP address is basically a label for each device in a network, but cannot trace each user of a device, only the user in which the device is registered under. So for example, what if there are 6 people in the household? Or what if a friend borrows your computer and illegally downloads the latest season of Breaking Bad without your knowledge? How does the copyright holder know who is responsible for the illegal act? Well they don't, but that does not stop them from pointing fingers at the simplest target.
These devices can include, phones, tablets, laptops or
really anything that can connect to the Internet with the touch of a button.
With this being said owners of a Wi-Fi connection should be extremely careful
or protective over their password and who they allow to have access to the
Internet through their home or facility. This password that most connections
have allow others to associate under a specified IP address which will in the
end trace back to the original owner if a lawsuit were to arise.
From previous work experience this is the
exact reason why a former employer would not allow the staff to hand out the
Wi-Fi connection password to customers who were taking part in the services
being sold. Although some companies do offer free WI-FI to lure in customers,
such as Starbucks who encourages their patrons to stay connected or Panera
Bread who offers free WI-FI but only allows one to use the internet for thirty
minutes. In comparison certain companies charge a fee to their customers to use
the Internet based on their usage time. The companies who do not allow their Wi-Fi connection to be used by
others or charge customers are smart and are avoiding lawsuits that could come
from patrons who decide to pirate. Companies and individuals who decide to share their personal Wi-Fi connection password are at risk in that they could facing a lawsuit for committing a crime that they did not commit. Situations such as these are sticky and could
be extremely detrimental and one might not even realize what is happening under
their roof when focusing on their IP address.
Although some are not aware it is illegal to download certain things off of the internet, people do need to be more cautious about what they are doing online. Just because you are able to do it so easily doesn't mean that it is legal. Also if some body else logs into your wifi you will be the one to blame if they decide to pirate. I agree you should always keep a password on your internet access because some people want to pirate videos, music, and ect. but know the consequences so they will try to cover their tracks on some one elses internet access.
ReplyDeleteIt will be hard to ever stop online piracy all together. It might even be impossible because of P2P networking. It is really just a judge of personal ethics and doing what you know is right even if it is the more expensive way of doing things. The cost of piracy is to great and soon there will have to be harsher punishments in place.
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