A law-abiding peer-to-peer network for free-software distribution

... for worldwide distribution of freely redistributable software packages. The GDN takes a novel, optimistic approach to stop the illegal distribution of copyrighted and illicit material via the network. Instead of having moderators check the software archives at upload time, illegal content is removed and its uploader's access to the network permanently revoked only when the content is discovered. An important feature of the GDN is that the objects containing the software can run on untrustworthy servers. A first version of the GDN has been implemented and has been running since October 2000 across four European sites

Peer-to-peer:is deviant behavior the norm on P2P file-sharing networks?

P2P file-sharing networks such as Kazaa, eDonkey, and Limewire boast millions of users. Because of scalability concerns and legal issues, such networks are moving away from the semicentralized approach that Napster typifies toward more scalable and anonymous decentralized P2P architectures. Because they lack any central authority, these networks provide a new, interesting context for the expression of human social behavior. However, the activities of P2P community members are sometimes at odds with what real-world authorities consider acceptable. One example is the use of P2P networks to distribute illegal pornography. To gauge the form and extent of P2P-based sharing of illegal pornography, we analyzed pornography-related resource-discovery traffic in the Gnutella P2P network. We found that a small yet significant proportion of Gnutella activity relates to illegal pornography: for example, 1.6 percent of searches and 2.4 percent of responses are for this type of material. But does this imply that such activity is widespread in the file-sharing population? On the contrary, our results show that a small yet particularly active subcommunity of users searches for and distributes illegal pornography, but it isn't a behavioral norm

Piracy Deserves No Privacy

The Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ), the music industry\u27s trade and lobbying group, recently initiated a controversial tactic to bring to surface previously anonymous digital pirates of the Internet. This aggressive tactic aims to make safe the digital oceans for copyright and involves identifying and bringing claims against infringing individuals who download, swap, and/or post copyrighted music illegally via the Internet. The RIAA cares not who the infringers are or whether the infringers know the illegality of their actions. Nor does the music industry concern itself with the inevitable storm of backlash bound to fall upon them for suing uninformed or unintentional infringers. Internet users and privacy advocates, however, care all too much. This i-brief attempts to alleviate the fears of privacy infringement by bringing to light certain safeguards built into the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act ( DMCA ) to deal with the possibility of both fraudulent identity subpoenas and infringement into personal privacy. In addition, case law will show that the subpoena powers of the DMCA will not be abused by those who truly wish to enforce copyright laws and legitimate claims of ownership, thereby maintaining the privacy of law abiding Internet users

Music as a Service as an Alternative to Music Piracy? - An Empirical Investigation of the Intention to Use Music Streaming Services

Despite increasing acceptance of digital channels, total sales in the music business decreased by 31 % from 2004 to 2010. Music piracy is still considered one of the main causes for this. However, several studies found no effects or even positive effects of illegal downloading on record sales. In the past, piracy has been counteracted especially by prosecution and legal offers. Music as a Service (MaaS) represents a new, differing distribution approach in digital music. In contrast to the wellknown music platforms for so-called àla- carte downloads, such as the iTunes Store, MaaS possesses two important characteristics: transmission (streaming instead of downloading) and pricing model (flat rate instead of pay-perdownload). Therefore, the consumption of music by means of purchasing and downloading is replaced by a monthly payment service (paid MaaS) and an ad-supported (free MaaS) service. First user surveys suggest that many music pirates are making use of these offers. To find out if MaaS is an attractive distribution channel for music pirates, we developed a model to explain the intention to use MaaS based on the Theory of Planned Behavior. To empirically test this model, we surveyed 132 music pirates. Among others, the outcome shows that the intention to use free MaaS is mainly affected by the attitude towardsMaaS, while using paid MaaS is predominantly a result of the influence of users’ closest peers. The attitude towards MaaS is positively influenced by the desire to receive music recommendations, the payment type (in the form of a flat rate model), and the relative advantage of MaaS compared to illegal choices

The Graduated Response

In the past few years, the entertainment industry has deployed aggressive tactics toward individual end-users, online service providers, and other third parties. One of the latest proposals that the industry has been exploring is the so-called “graduated response” or “three strikes” system, which threatens to suspend the service of internet users after they have received two warnings from their ISPs about potentially illegal online file-sharing activities. In December 2008, the RIAA made a formal public announcement of its change of focus toward greater cooperation with ISPs. This new collaborative effort seeks to replace the highly unpopular lawsuits the industry has filed against individual file-sharers in the past five years. To strengthen their legal positions, and to induce greater cooperation from ISPs, some industry groups have suggested that the graduated response system had already been built into the framework under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 -- a proposition that had been vehemently rejected by ISPs, civil liberties groups, consumer advocates, and academic commentators. This article explores the system\u27s effectiveness in addressing massive online copyright infringement. It then examines whether the system has been built into the so-called DMCA framework and highlights the problems and unintended consequences brought about by the system. The article concludes by outlining seven basic principles policymakers need to take into account if they choose to institute such a system despite its many shortcomings