Copyright vs. the Right to Copy Essay -- Computers Technology Internet

Copyright vs. the Right to CopyTodays digital technology and the computer have changed how the average consumer can acquire information and entertainment. No longer do we have to wait for the CD to hear a new song, or the release date to watch a movie. The technology is on hand(predicate) on our home computers. But is this an infringement on copyright? What about the rights of artists, authors, producers, or actors? Has our technology progressed so far that it infringes on these peoples livings? It is only a take of time before laws are passed regarding Internet use. Are we ready to give up the freedom we have had up to this point? In her essay The digital Rights War, Pamela Samuelson states that The new future of technically protected information is so far from the ordinary persons experience that few of us have any speck about what is at stake. (Samuelson 316) With todays technology consumers can download almost anything from their computer and copy it onto a CD Rom or to an MP 3 player. Pirated copies of songs from CDs that are non yet released or movies that are still in the theaters are put on the Internet available for anyone to use or copy. These are extreme examples of the occupation at hand. What lengths do we need to go to in protecting artists rights? Pirating is nothing new. When I was in high school bootleg copies of concerts were available to buy on cassette. There will always be some people that dont follow the law, and even if we tighten up current copyrighting laws those people will find a way around them. The average consumer may download songs or articles from the Internet, but they do not distribute them or reproduce them. If they do reproduce them it is commonly for personal use. The MP3 player that ... ...May 7, 2000. http//www.mp3.com Napster.com. Information about Metallicas Request to Disable Napster Users. Napster Home Page. 1999-2000. May 7, 2000. http//www.napster.com RIAA. Copyright Basics, Napster Lawsuit Q & A. Recording Ind ustry Association of the States Home Page. May 7, 2000. http//www.riaa.com Samuelson, Pamela. The Digital Rights War. The Presence of Others. Ed. Andrea A. Lunsford and John J. Ruszkiewicz. Boston, New York Bedford/St. Martins, 2000. 315-321. U.S. Copyright Office, Library of Congress. The Digital Millennium copyright Act of 1998. December, 1998. May 7, 2000. http//lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/ snowy House Information Infrastructure Task Force. Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. 1995. http//www.uspto.gov/web/offices/com/doc/ipnii/execsum.html