Looking back at the stories that made technology headlines in 2002 and sifting through those of them with enough potential to permeate the front pages in 2003, file-sharing and its unceasing woes tops the list of controversial issues that will indisputably affect our world in the near future.
Although music-swapping services have been around for quite some time, last year reinforced the campaigns for an increased global awareness of their detriments in the current status quo. A multitude of concerned associations, most notable of which the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the more than ever interested Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), lead the legal and legislative fight against unauthorized, illegal distribution of intellectual property.
In 2002, amid the global economic slowdown, file-sharing, along with spamming, pervaded the spotlight with discussions on the legal opportunities laying before the hardest-stricken victims -- the large corporations. But despite the fact that in both cases the most affected are virtually the same, the attitudes of the common user (who also is the regular voter) towards these trends are vastly different.
Spammers are one of the most detested
businesspeople on the Internet today, while the developers of file-sharing software are among the most popular. The stunning popularity of such software makers and their products is unquestionable. The largely negative effect on both the creators of intellectual products and the economic development of the world is indisputable, too.
Although all file-swapping services publicly denounce copyright infringement, in private, they do support its proliferation since it drives their sources of revenue. A prominent example is the now forgotten Audiogalaxy, which once revolutionized the way people satiate their music needs. Describing itself as a network offering small bands and individual performers a global space to promote their works, today Audiogalaxy is barely used by anybody after a court order obliged the company to block access to illicitly shared files.
As of today, there are two major paths followed in the war on Internet piracy. Affected intellectual property owners (motion picture studios, recording studios, software companies, etc.) are filing suit after suit against file-sharing networks, while pushing for legislature protecting their rights in the probably most uncontrollable medium today -- the Internet. And yes, legislature may seem like a more permanent measure in the copyright infringement fights, but as for now, it is almost completely constrained within the United States. Such restrictions have surfaced snags in dealing with companies like Sharman Networks (owner of Kazaa). Although a judge recently gave green light to a California-based lawsuit against the software maker, the ramifications of a conviction for the Australian-based Kazaa are obscure.
Taking into account the global structure of the Internet, it is absolutely clear that without the tools of properly working Internet governance (something we lack today), it will be impossible to curb the increasing illegal file-sharing we are witnessing. While spamming can be fought with the willingness of both governments and ordinary citizens, swapping services enjoy an immense interest in what they are providing -- free and unlimited access to what you regularly pay money for.
Let's face it. In its current state, file-sharing poses an immense threat -- declining music sales, people unlawfully watching movies on their desktop computers weeks before their official premieres, software worth billions of dollars being downloaded freely over the Internet. Without appropriate measures, it is only a matter of time before Hollywood, for example, goes bankrupt when high-speed Internet access turns the PC into a free home-theater.
The anarchic state of the Internet has obliterated the general respect for intellectual works, and a growing number of people cannot realize that their actions are serious crimes, equal to physical thefts. It's up to all of us -- regular users, corporations, associations, politicians -- to address the core of the problem. It's time to abandon local, temporary solutions. It's time to think globally and reasonably govern the yearning throng.
