Dear readers, new information has
come to light over the weekend that is big news to people in the data piracy
world. Last weekend, it was discovered
that Dropbox has the ability to recognize and prevent you from sharing
copyrighted content using the program. Basically this software can prevent
piracy. There are concerns in the data piracy world that Dropbox could “sell
out” and turn information of users that are sharing copyrighted material over
to the federal government. Dropbox uses a system called “hashing” to screen
material uploaded before it is shared. Dropbox can use hashing to identify
similar programs, and in the case of copyrighted material, identical programs
and marks them as a match or not as a match. Dropbox makes a list of
copyrighted programs that are not to be shared. It gets this list from
companies such as Disney or Universal Music and whenever these companies send
Dropbox copyright information, this information is added to Dropbox’s list of “do
not share” programs per the company’s requests. So when a user uploads a
copyrighted program, Dropbox checks the hashing of the program against a list
of its known to be copyrighted hashes before they are able to be shared
publicly.
This may raise concerns among
Dropbox users about the privacy of their personal files and data. Dropbox
stresses that the entire process is automated and they do not look at user’s
files but rather just the hashes in the coding of their files. Also, Dropbox
stresses that hashes are only checked when you attempt to share your files and
you may upload whatever you want including copyrighted material as long as you
are using them for personal use only. There are ways to get around being
blocked on Dropbox however, you can use the simple method of encrypting your
files before uploading them using a tool such as Boxcryptor or you may simply
zip them up using 7-zip.
The concerns of Dropbox selling out
to the United States federal government are most likely false because it is
widely believed that Dropbox would fight such a request from the federal government.
Dropbox’s best interest is to keep their user’s data secure and out of the
hands of the United States government because a lack of trust would translate
into people straying away from Dropbox and finding other companies because of a
bad reputation. We here at Pirates of the Cyber-sea believe that you will be
safe using Dropbox’s services regardless of these recent developments.
In conclusion, the United States of
America is constantly trying to find new ways to put a stop to digital piracy.
People are always discovering new ways to get around all of these different strategies
to stop them. The smarter the government gets in putting a stop to this, the
smatter the overall community gets as well. It is always interesting to see
what new obstacles people get around to illegally download music and movies as
well as whatever else it is that they are trying to download and or share.
Dropbox sounds like a fully automated system and if people do not want their personal information to leak out, then they don't need to post in online. I don't give out my personal information unless it is needed for taxes, housing, occupation or for school. Handing out information is a personal decision and if it hurts people in the end, they need to rethink putting those personal files online.
ReplyDeleteI think that Dropbox is a good tactic to put an end to digital piracy. The fact that it can identify copyrighted materials before they leak out onto the Internet is a important tool for companies like Disney and Universal studios to prevent losing profit. I remember in high school, Livewire was a popular site to download free music illegally. The people that continued to download music got caught and not only got expelled from school, but had to deal with legal issues. Something that seems so innocent and simple can lead to major legal issues. This program would be a good way to stop copyrighted material and to prevent these legal issues from growing into major problems.
ReplyDeleteWith copyright laws and online piracy being major issues with sharing files and using a public database, I feel Dropbox is doing the right thing for not only their company but also their users. Dropbox is protecting itself from infringement such as piracy with this idea , as well as encouraging users to "do the right thing" and obey by the copyright laws and requests. Whether it is an invasion of privacy, the internet itself is a public source viewed, encrypted, and stored by people everyday. Your information is seen by millions daily, so to say it invades your privacy is a little farfetched. I believe, in the end, it encourages to be moral as well as help fellow studios and film organizations maintain sales and production.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like a good thing to me. I do not think that Dropbox is going to go through each individual file and sell out many of their customers to the government. They could instead refuse to support these trademarked or protected files. This way the company is safe from the government because they are not aiding theft, and the users are forced to find a new way to store their illegal files.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel that Dropbox would sell personal information to the government because it would cause mistrust with all of their customers. I do feel that this method is a good way to at least lower digital piracy. If nothing else it will keep Dropbox users from using copyrighted information.
ReplyDelete