Talk:F08 CPSC203 T09 GROUP 6

Illegal Downloading and File Sharing
Canada has the greatest number of file sharers per capita than any other country in the world including the United States of America according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Not only do we beat America for the number of file sharers per capita, but Canada is also seeing a constant increase in the number of file sharers where America’s numbers are declining. This is the reason Canada has made file sharing and the uploading/distributing certain material online illegal.

Canada’s Copyright Act states that in general, it is illegal, whether for personal gain or profit, to copy and distribute unauthorized material online. This includes peer-2-peer file sharing including networks such as kazaa, isohunt, and limewire. The downloading in peer-2-peer (p2p) file sharing is not illegal, however the uploading and distributing is illegal. Downloading and uploading are hand-in-hand with p2p networks. However, there are some exemptions to this law. It is also stated that it is perfectly legal to copy sound recordings onto an “audio recording medium” for the personal use of the person making the copy. This means that recording music files for personal use is fine.

Penalties: Specific penalties will be decided by the court. A copyright holder can also choose to elect to protect his copyright under section 38 which consists of a fine which sums between $500 and $20,000, dependant on what the court considers just.

Although it is illegal, people who download the odd movie and other material (I being one) should not worry due to the minor amount of damage they are causing. In 2007, RCMP officers stated that they will tolerate piracy for personal use. The RCMP said that it is near impossible to track down everyone who downloads and uploads illegal material through p2p file sharing for personal use. They are said not to have the time nor the resources to handle the amount of violators.

Advantages
Although there are legal and sometimes moral issues with peer-2-peer file sharing and distributing, there are many advantages which seem to be dominant over or the drawbacks. The simple fact that people can go onto a website, install a program or two, and then have an unlimited amount of movies, CD’s, programs, games and other material at no extra cost is a great convenience. People who p2p have access to thousands of different materials with just a click of their mouse.

Another huge determining factor is that people who p2p files can receive a movie or game much earlier than a person who doesn’t, sometime months before stores and theatres release that certain material. People downloading and sharing this information may have to wait a few hours and pay nothing, while people who don’t share files have to wait several weeks and pay full price.

If a person has a fast internet connection they may also download many different files at a time. Several movies, songs and games can be downloaded at the same time no matter what time it is. Also, another convenient attribute to file sharing is that obscure titles can be found quite easily on-line.