The War on File Sharing Companies Shawn Williams

What is File Sharing ? The downloading of a computer file to a user's computer, using software, which then allows the user to make the file available to other users, other "peers". Ways to File share: p2p, bittorent, hosting sites, newsgroups, and irc.

Anti- File Sharing Malware and spyware. Identity theft . High bandwidth consumption. copyright infringement. Economic impact of illegal file sharing on media industries.

Pro- File Sharing Its easy and free. Economic impact is not primary do to file sharing. ITunes and Netflix are file sharing sites. Copyright owners using file sharing to profit from lawsuits. Companies don’t understand that technology has changed. File sharing helps smaller companies or individuals

The War BitTorrent trackers have been subjected to raids and shutdowns due to claims of copyright infringement. BitTorrent metafiles do not store copyrighted data, so it has been claimed that BitTorrent trackers, which only store and track the metafiles, must therefore be legal even if sharing the data in question would be considered a violation of copyright.Despite this claim, there has been tremendous legal pressure, usually on behalf of the MPAA and RIAA, and similar organizations around the world to shut down numerous BitTorrent trackers.

Headlines More than 2 years ago the IFPI and other copyright groups brought action against Danish ISP Telenor demanding that it should block its subscribers from accessing The Pirate Bay. Following a hearing which began a week ago, the Supreme Court in Denmark has just ruled that The Pirate Bay must continue to be blocked, upholding previous rulings by lower courts. After months out of the headlines, The Pirate Bay has been dramatically back in the spotlight in recent weeks. After threatening its bandwidth supplier CB3ROB back in April, the main Hollywood studios obtained an injunction hoping to take the site offline. This week the pressure became too much and facing huge potential damages and a possible jail sentence for its owner, CB3ROB had to cease providing bandwidth to the site, which effectively shut it down – for a few hours. A court in The Netherlands has banned a Usenet community from publishing the names of files which allegedly infringe copyright.

Headlines continue RapidShare is not liable for acts of copyright infringement committed by its users, a German court ruled yesterday. The Dusseldorf Court of Appeals overturned the earlier decision of a local district court in a case brought by the movie outfit Capelight Pictures. A court in The Netherlands has banned a Usenet community from publishing the names of files which allegedly infringe copyright. IRMA Strong-arms Mobile ISPs To Disconnect File-Sharers.

Is the treatment of these organizations ethical?