Global Artists' Issues: focus on international piracy
in cra-briefings30 · October 15, 2005
Few people are unaware that the piracy of copyright protected material is a major international problem. Numerous strategies and approaches have been employed internationally to curb the activity which comes in two forms, (1) the production and sale of pirated goods and (2) Internet piracy.
Sale of pirated goods is a problem on a global scale, and is visible in the phenomenon of DVD’s being offered for sale while a film is still being shown in theatres. Monitoring the flow of these kinds of goods is challenging and occurs, for the most part, on a national level. However, the American “Watch Lists” of problem countries published by the Office of the US Trade Representative is a strong indication of the global nature of the piracy problem. The Watch List has two categories : the 36 countries on the “Watch List”, and the 13 on the “Priority Watch List”. One may not expect Canada to figure as a problem country in piracy. Nonetheless, Canada is on the US Watch List. Canada is seen as a flow-through nation, a conduit for pirated goods from Asia in to the United States. Canada has also been criticized by the US Trade Representative for the delay in its ratification the WIPO treaties. Of particular concern is the implementation for technological protection measures and treatment of Internet Service Providers.
For more information on the watch list please see the office of the United States Trade Representative at www.ustr.gov
Given the problems countries are experiencing monitoring and controlling the flow of pirated goods both within their boarders and across them, here is a short review of some ways they are used to battle these problems.
Taiwan
In 2005 Taiwan was moved from the Priority Watch List to the Watch List in light of revisions to its copyright act in 2004 and the strengthening of its enforcement efforts. These are detailed in the Performance Report on IP Protection in Taiwan 2004 of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The revisions to Taiwan’s copyright act included protection for technological protection measures, an increased in penalties and in the powers granted to boarder officials, and a strengthening of the language around enforcement. The Taiwanese government has appointed an intellectual property policy force of 220 officers, and now offers monetary incentives to informants who give leads on IP crimes. Despite all of these efforts the download of music over the internet increased 15% in 2004 over 2003 figures.
Nigeria
Nigeria is experiencing problems related to piracy common in many developing nations. Nevertheless, it is not mentioned on the Piracy Watch Lists. There is a limited indigenous publishing industry in Nigeria and the majority of books are imported from overseas. On average, a book costs the equivalent of a months’ take-home pay for a university lecturer. There is a heavy reliance in the educational sector on photocopying as a result. Only recently has a reprographic rights organization has been established in Nigeria; it will soon be in a position to negotiate licenses for photocopying.
For more information on the Nigerian RRO visit www.ifrro.org.
Beyond photocopying, the chief worry about piracy concerns situations where pirated goods are available at a lower cost than the authentic work in open markets. The overriding circumstance affecting Nigeria’s literary and cultural community is the lack of a strong indigenous publishing industry. But for the culture as a whole, the effects of piracy over the long term will include the disappearance of indigenous traditional knowledge. For more information on the situation in Nigeria, please see www.bellagiopublishingnetwork.org/newsletter26-27/oyinloye.htm or www.independentng.com/Sunday/vijun260503.htm
Finland
Finland is on the American Watch list as part of the European Union whose focus is on patent issues rather than copyright or creators’ rights. Finland has strong laws to prevent piracy both within the country and at its boarders, but it is contemplating reinforcing these laws. The Finnish parliament is considering banning the importation of pirated works even where the importation is a single copy of a work for personal use. This step would deter citizens from purchasing pirated goods outside the country and bringing them into Finland – thus giving boarder officials some of the broadest anti-piracy powers in the world.
Piracy over the Internet
The names Kazaa, Grokster, Napster, Bittorrent and eDonkey punctuate the debate about Internet piracy. The common thread of these programs is the fact that they all enable users to “share” files over peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. This is the most common means of copyright infringement on the Internet today. There has been a lengthy legal process connected to P2P networks, some of it related to the protection of the privacy of users, and some of it addresses the illegality of the services.
The Court decision in the Napster case several years ago seemed like a big win for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in its battle against illegal file sharing over the Internet. The Napster system shut down by that decision was a first generation P2P network whose electronic files were stored on a centralized network. It was the existence of the central network, the “cache” of illegal files, which had rendered Napster liable.
Even before the Napster decision, a second generation of P2P software was evolving. This software was the first incarnation of Kazaa and Grokster, and it linked users’ computers to one another, removing the need for a centralized server. In order to slow the use of these media, recording companies and others populated the networks with corrupt files. As down-loaders became annoyed with this, a third generation of P2P began to develop. This P2P generation relied on users’ computers with large storage capacities acting as supernodes to speed up the downloading process. However, even G3 P2P which may have sheltered the companies and programmers from liability could not shelter users. This is evidenced by the efforts of the RIAA since 2003 to initiate more than 14,000 law suits against infringers in the United States. The effort to protect the identities of the users, put P2P on the morph again.
With generation four P2P, the current version dominated by Bittorrent and eDonkey, downloading is stratified meaning that portions of songs are downloaded from a number of users computers simultaneously, making the identification of users practically impossible for now. Software developers suggest that this is a move to protect the privacy of users rather than to encourage infringement.
The MGM v. Grokster decision of the United States Supreme Court and the Kazaa decision in Australia have added a new perspective to the piracy debate. In these decisions the courts have determined that where a service provider promotes the use of that service in a way that infringes copyright, the service provider can be liable for that infringement. These decisions have led a number of organizations to state that their devices are not intended to be used to infringe copyright, though, in light of the Kazaa Australia decision the effectiveness of such statements may be called into question. The creators and owners of P2P software do not seem to be backing down and many more appeals and incarnations of P2P technology are sure to evolve.
For more information on the latest developments in P2P technology please see: www.slyck.com/newsphp?story=407