April 17th, 2009

Pirate Bay court case bad news for students

Posted by Zack Whittaker @ 5:17 am

Categories: Breaking news, Discussion, Government, Legal and political, Piracy and file-sharing, University, University fun

Tags: RIAA, Music, Zack Whittaker

The news broke a few hours ago that the creators of The Pirate Bay, one of the largest search repositories for torrents for music, videos, games and, let’s face it, high quality porn, are heading to prison after being found guilty of breaking copyright laws.

I am no stranger to the dark side of the Internet, the downloading of illegal files and whatnot. Students love their music, their videos, and often can’t afford to buy bread and milk let alone a $20 DVD from Wal-Mart.

With organisations such as the RIAA bullying students into paying ridiculous fines for “crimes” sometimes barely committed (there is such a thing), the state of online media is slowing down to a point where I can see no other outcome than a massive Bush-like “war of suing people”.

The media have covered this story extensively, reaching to the highest websites the Internet has to offer. However, I suspect this is a media show and nothing else. The Pirate Bay have only ever done this, metaphorically pointed people in the right direction where to download files from.

Consider this. A group of twenty people have multiple copies of a music CD. A person comes along wanting to listen to some new music but doesn’t know which one to choose. They ask The Pirate Bay to point in the general direction of someone of which their music will suit their taste. The person then approaches that person, takes a copy which is perfectly acceptable to the person sharing the music, and listens to it.

Relatively simple, I’d say? I’m sure you agree.

So all this media havoc and mess, trial by jury and fines reaching in excess of $17 million-(ish), it’s comparable to a public hanging.

As the BBC describes it quite well, the Pirate Bay is “beached, but not sunk“.

The power of revolution is strong, and the more people who revolt over such a matter, the people will prevail. It’s the basis of democracy; give the people what they want. No matter how big the RIAA can be, no matter how powerful a democratic government may appear, the people will always have the upper hand.

• Read more: Students (unaware/don’t care) about music legalities
• Read more: University music tax: sharing and caring?
• Read more: Student suicide threat over RIAA bullying tactics

Have the courts stepped out of line by using the owners of the Pirate Bay as media bait? Do they deserve the treatment they get, or is it fully justified? Are the RIAA spinning out of control or are they just doing what’s right for the American people?

Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Zack Whittaker, the youngest in the ZDNet network, is a British student at the University of Kent, Canterbury, where he studies BA (Hons) Criminology and Social Policy. His insight into the next-generation is unique and first-hand, sharing his knowledge of the here and now but more so what's next and how to get there.

You can read his public biography and his work disclosures of his current and past industry affiliations.

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