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It is my belief that copyright issues online are flawed and are not as compatable as they should be with the current methods of obtaining software and electronic media. Many laws are archaic and cause things to be illegal to download when doing so would literally harm nobody. Other crimes are extremely easy to get away with, such as software piracy. This is partially the fault of our own government, and other western ones for that matter, but it is also the fault of many foreign governments as well. In China, the majority of software is pirated, and Russia also has a similar problem. For this rampant piracy to cease, major changes need to happen in how we handle copyright laws.
If I wanted to play a computer game that was sold in stores seven years ago, I would have a very, very slim chance of actually finding it on sale anywhere. The only ways to obtain the game would be from buying it used from a previous owner (ex: off Ebay), or to obtain it illegally. Game developers recieve money through the royalties earned by sales in stores. In other words, buying a game second-hand generates no royalties, and thus it makes absolutely no difference to the company who holds the intellectual rights to the game. Once a game stops being sold in stores, it stops making money as well. Some game companies invalidate the copyrights on their old games so that people may download them for free, legally. Most companies do not do this, however, for the simple reason of it taking time and money to invalidate the copyright on something. This flaw in the system means that the company gets less publicity (free things are the best way to advertise something), and potentially less money in the long run.
Even with software that is illegal to download/copy and is still being sold in stores, the person getting the pirated software will not be caught in the act. The only people who do get caught doing such things are companies or people who do this on a large scale. For example, a company which has an unlicensed copy of photoshop on each computer will most likely be shut down or sued. The problem is that the vast majority of people who pirate software do it on a small, undetectable scale. There is no way to detect it either, unless someone starts scanning every single computer for illegal material (something which creeps me out and I'm against both being creeped out and spied on). The way to stop this kind of piracy is not to discourage it, but to encourage people to buy software. Lower prices, easier accessability and shareware all would work to slow down piracy. The fact is, people buy more stuff if it's cheaper.
The final issue I am going to cover in this document is online music-sharing. I have nothing against it, and if it wasn't for me downloading MP3's, I would not have bought any of the CD's in my collection. I like to try before I buy, and I also know that a CD provides far better sound quality than an MP3 which uses lossy compression, or even the relatively new OGG format (an opwn source one which is about 200% smaller in file size and a lot better sounding too). This is an example of copyright laws not working at all, and actually doing the opposite of what they are intended to do. The only real way to fix the problem of music being illegal on the internet is to somehow have the RIAA, an organization which controls most music copyrights, to change their ways and actually understand how and why people buy their products for once.
This entire page was written by Michael Gagno.