Torrential

Torrents are somewhat amazing to me. A torrent is defined as “a stream of water flowing with great rapidity and violence,” or a “violent downpour of rain.” Oh wait, that’s not what we’re talking about, is it? A torrent is also described as “a rushing, violent, or abundant and unceasing stream of anything.” That’s getting a little closer, and I would bet that that is where torrents get their name. The torrents this blog will discuss are also known as bit torrents. A bit torrent is defined as a “pointer file used for file sharing.” Basically, when you download a torrent you are taking bits of different files from different users all over the internet. It is a file sharing network that allows you to quickly download things from other people who are a part of that file sharing network. So what are you downloading when you download a bit torrent? These files can really be anything. The most popular are music and movies, but there are also copies of operating systems, instruction manuals, Microsoft Office, computer games, pictures, and all manner of different computer programs and software.

What amazes me about torrents is the volume. I mentioned earlier that describing torrents as an “unceasing stream of anything” might have been where they got their name. I believe this to be true because there is simply no end to the effervescence of illegal materials that are available and growing online. Living in college dorms for two years I saw endless gigabytes of torrents downloaded to my friends computers. It was commonplace to see 500 gig hard drives in every dorm room my freshman year. Sure, in high school I heard about a few people getting caught with downloading music and movies, but only like 2 or 3 people out of hundreds that I knew were doing it. I really think that that was a scare tactic. I heard of a few people being caught who were going to have to pay a few slap-on-the-wrist fines, and I never heard anything else about it. 

Torrents are not legal, but it seems that nothing is being done to stop them. Perhaps there is just too much of it that prosecuting everyone who has committed this crime will take too long. But just because there are so many people doing it does not mean that it is right or that we should allow it. I don’t propose any solution because in all likelihood there probably is no good solution on how to stop this from happening. However I don’t understand why these websites can stay open when there is so much illegal digital media passing through their hubs. I assume that the sites aren’t actually breaking any laws because they aren’t hosting the files themselves, and if law enforcement agencies report on an illegal or copyright link or file, the site just closes that link or file down, and someone opens five more to replace it. Gotta love the legal system…

"You Can Click, But You Can't Hide"

This visual rhetoric is a piece of propaganda against piracy, specifically downloading things onto ones computer. The ad plays on the movie rating system such as PG for Parental Guidance, or R for Restricted. This ad displays I for Illegal Downloading. It plays off the common phrase of “You can run, but you can’t hide,” but changes it to relate to the theme of piracy. It says that you can click, meaning download music or movies, but you can’t hide. It is trying to scare the idea into people who practice piracy that they will be found and punished eventually. This is definitely a persuasive message and an attempted scare tactic. It is designed to put doubt in the person’s head.


The people who made this ad also want to create awareness that downloading these things is illegal and that there are people who are seeking to find out those who do practice piracy in order to punish them.


In addition to the movie rating theme and the play on words of “you can click but you can’t hide,” The ad includes a picture of someone about to click a mouse. This too sends a message: The finger is raised and about to click the mouse but hasn’t clicked it yet. This seems to suggest that there is still a chance for someone to not click and stop their illegal downloading. In addition to all of these things the ad makes use of different coloring. The picture is in black and white which makes it look more bleak and foreboding. It creates an emotion in the viewer to see this as a bad thing and ads to the persuasion.

What is Piracy?

So before we can really get into deep discussions about piracy and plagiarism, we have to define what they are. Concepts such as these deal very much in relativism and are thin lines to walk along, or at least they seem that way for many. In the earlier part of this blog I will focus on piracy and move on to plagiarism at a later time. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, piracy is defined as “the unauthorized use of another's production, invention, or conception especially in infringement of a copyright.” So what does this mean?

When I think or piracy a few things come to mind: The piracy video that plays in theaters with the intense music, the copyright warnings before movies, downloading illegal movies and music, torrents, Napster, Limewire, etc. So basically, we are using or taking someone else’s things without their permission and without paying for it. It sounds a lot like stealing to me.

The video below suggests that you wouldn’t steal a DVD out of a store, so why would you steal or pirate a video online? Is it only because we are less likely to be caught doing it online? Or is there something more? I think that pirating movies and especially music has become so commonplace and ingrained in our culture that we don’t see it as wrong. I wonder if part of this is due to the websites that offer music and movies to be played for free but are still legal. These sites make their money through advertising and perhaps by selling your email addresses to third parties, but we don’t have to pay for them so we think they are going unpaid for.

Because there is so much piracy that goes on and we can so easily find free music and movies (as well as many other free things), we have started to come to expect to get these things for free. We don’t deserve them for free, right? Someone else put their time and money into creating the movies and music and software. That is their livelihood. If they were intended to be free, the people wouldn’t get paid to do them. If they didn’t get paid to do them, the creators likely wouldn’t have as much time or as many resources to devote to creating those things, and in turn we wouldn’t have them. But somehow we have gotten into the mindset that we deserve to get the latest songs, movies, and software for nothing! 

Inception

I have grown up heavily immersed in the digital world. Being born in 1989, I grew up along with the internet and was able to start learning about it and experiencing it from the time I was young. I have always been adept with computers and digital networking. Because of this I learned at an early age how simple life can be made through the information accessed in the digital world. There is a plethora of information that is available on the internet, and I have often been told that anything can be found there if you know how to look for it and find it.

                     

Because of their interactions with the digital world from a very young age, many people (especially those who are kids now) have grown up with expectations about what they can find and what they deserve to find online. This blog will seek to examine these expectations and their effects on the law and education. Specifically, I will investigate the ideas of piracy and plagiarism and the change in the perceptions of these ideas in recent history. Some of the topics I will explore are:

• How we really define piracy in the modern day?
• Is piracy now accepted as the norm in our culture?
• What are some different ways of information sharing and appropriating?
• What is the background and history of piracy? Where did it start?
• What does it mean to own digital media?
• How has plagiarism through the digital world affected the education system?
• How has the ease of access of information online affected the modern day student?
• Has the digital world spurred creativity or has it allowed for an easy way out to learn information?