In a society with a burgeoning remix culture, that is one that encourages combining of works and creative material to produce a new product, the new freedom of digital expression makes piracy rife. Digital piracy has traditionally been portrayed negatively, framed by authorities of the law and of the film, television, music and gaming (or “creative”) industries as they wag their fingers with moral conviction. Yet these so-called piracy criminals could be anyone.
On one side of the scale they are Kim Dotcoms - enabling mass
piracy through the use of file sharing programmes and getting richer all the
time. On the other side they could be someone’s grandma emailing opera
recordings to her family. Piracy is defined as the unauthorized copying, distribution
and selling of works in copyright (Panetiere, 2005).
Cultural practice and attitudes towards piracy are the real
problems for prosecution as evidence suggests online piracy is taken lightly in
comparison to other types of theft. Piracy is a largely politicised topic
because the pirate is not essentially taking something away, as there is an
exact copy of the work left behind. Is it stealing or sharing? Is piracy just a
capitalist construct? While debate continues, there’s no doubt that piracy has
broken down barriers between consumer and producer, to the advantage of the
former than the latter.
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Student details
Assignment 2: Digital essayRosanna Price 09179550
154.311 Extramural
