Copyright Laws and Digital Surveillance

Copyright Laws and Digital Surveillance

The law attempts to balance individual rights with the rights of society. Two areas in which this conflict is particularly challenging are intellectual property rights as they relate to online materials and the new kinds of surveillance that digital media enable. This blog will discuss whether I think the law has achieved an appropriate balance in protecting conflicting rights regarding copyright protection and digital surveillance. Within the first blog post, I will address the ease of copying and sharing materials on the Internet and the affects it have on copyrights. This blog post will identify the influence of the open-source movement on attitudes regarding copyright. I will compare and contrast the relationship between creative and innovation within intellectual property rights. This blog will also try to open conversations about the personal and professional effects of digital surveillance versus organizational needs for information and control, such as employer monitoring of employee computer use, business monitoring of customers’ Internet behavior and government monitoring of citizens.

The Ease of Copying and Sharing on the Internet

There are many ways to violate copyright laws unintentionally; especially if one is not educated on the things you can or cannot do with or without the permission from the copyright holder. For instance, if someone wanted to create a fan fiction story with characters already established under copyright laws are actually violating the copyright laws. One would ask that since this was only fan fiction, how it could be of any violation if no one received moneys from their piece. Well, to answer, copyrights are not wholly limited to suing for damages from violations, and it is possible to grant injunctions to prevent further reproduction even where there has been no financial loss to the property owner (Merritt, 2012). A court of law can decide if a fair use defense can be used to protect someone who may be claimed to have violated the copyright laws of another if the piece that is accused is a parody, criticism, news or used for educational purposes not intended for a profit (Merritt, 2012)

The Internet has made it much easier for us to make mistakes on sharing copyright materials, but the main issue lie where the Internet makes it so much easier to intentionally share materials that are unlawfully. Downloading software, movies, music or text that is under copyright protection also constitutes piracy. This includes opening email attachments that contain copyrighted material or seeking the material out online using a search engine or file sharing service (Hartman, 2012).

Copyright violations and infringement happen often, in some cases unknowingly while in others, with full knowledge. Since it is much easier to break copyright laws, it can make one wonder if more law or more restrictions on what we can or cannot do on the Internet needs to be put in place. The most frequent copyright violations that stem from Internet use includes file sharing software which is also known as peer-to-peer software (P2P), burning CDs and DVDs, copying books and sheet music, and illegal use of photographs.

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Creativity and Innovation with Intellectual Property Rights

Right enhancers, or people who favor maintaining and expanding copyrights in the digital context and rights restrictors, or people who favor in letting rights atrophy are in a midst of a fundamental conflict in law and policy. On one hand strong intellectual property rights are essential; at minimum, they are important to support creativity in contexts where the creation, collection, or distribution of the content requires substantial investment of time and resources (Nimmer, 2011). On the other hand, these copyright laws must construct a balance that fully supports creativity of high-quality and high-investment work. The restrictive argument is not that no intellectual property rights should exist, but that the rights should provide only the minimum necessary protection (Nimmer, 2011). To the rights restrictor, this can enhance the ability to be more creative and gives people the chance to create more as opposed to being restricted by laws.

Influence of the Open-Source Movement

The open-source movement is worldwide and composed of many people who feel that the best way to produce software is to do it collaboratively with similarly minded individuals who have goals of producing high-quality programs. The attitudes towards copyrights vary, but developers reveal that the intrinsic motivation of problem solving is associated with the developers’ preference for licenses with moderate restrictions, while the extrinsic motivation of status through peer recognition is associated with developers’ preference for licenses with least restrictions (Sen, et al, 2008).

Open-Source software (OSS) relies on the concept of content licensing which can get very complex, so developers rather spend time collaborating on their own complex software issue than spending time on contemplating their actions towards the domains of law. Open source projects offer opportunities for developers to be creative, to enjoy what they are doing, and to have a sense of accomplishment in their voluntary contributions to OSS projects (Sen, et al, 2008). To measure success, developers want their projects to attract other developers and users to maintain high levels of activity. The decision for software licenses are key decisions made by the developers which influenced by the expectations of that project. Restrictive OSS licenses might discourage other OSS developers to use the OSS in their own projects. When choosing open source projects, they have to consider the trade-off between their beliefs about open source and the consequences of the project decisions based on those beliefs, such as the impact on project activity or the success of projects (Sen, et al, 2008).

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Digital Surveillance

With the lines blurring of working from home or remotely versus going into the office from 9 to 5, digital surveillance is making many headlines asking where does the line need to be drawn. This is an attempt to open up conversation about the personal and professional effects of digital surveillance versus organizational needs for information and control, such as employer monitoring of employee computer use, business monitoring of customers’ Internet behavior and government monitoring of citizens.

At work, what does your boss have the ability to see? In a word, everything:  Corporate computer, email, Blackberry or phone. Your boss can have real time access to every bit of data on them – any devices plugged in to them, even many files you thought you deleted (Stillman, 2007). My question to you is, do we feel that this is a necessary tool needed and should employees expect to have their performance reviewed, objectives set, information gathered on their whereabouts and is this just good old common management practices? Usually employers watch their employees to protect their assets, but there is also evidence that groups of employees are appropriating information and communication technologies to stare back at their employers, exposing unsavory practices and organizing collectively, prompting new thinking about resistance (Bail, 2010).

Casual surfing on the web opens us up to being tracked for marketing purposes. To avoid such things means to not use a lot of modern technology that is available today that we rely on immensely. Marketing attempts are also tracking your online activity therefore you are seeing ads in the right hand corners of your screen about things you may have had a certain interest in. Every device we use, including our iPhone’s and Droids, the Internet, navigations systems in cars and even our cable TV are open to being tracked where our personal information is either explicitly or implicitly captured.

An even bigger debate can be credited to the government surveillance of the Internet and how we feel about it. The Internet has grown in regards to being a freedom of expression; especially in nations that are dominant in the online population such as the United States. However, the newly emerging nations online, primarily in the developing regions of Asia and Latin and South America, are becoming the dominant nations online, having the greatest number of users, despite lower levels of adoption (Dutta, et al, 2011). With citizens attitudes shifting towards being concerned about the risks that devices pose, do we expect more governance and surveillance of the Internet? Do we come to expect to give up privacy when we log on? Will signing off on permission to be monitored by businesses to learn our preferences be preferred?

Fear and interest in the protection of privacy and personal data have been heightened by the widespread use of the Internet in areas including commerce and medical care. The rise of online social networks has also contributed to concern over individual privacy. Governments and law enforcement agencies have sought to increase security measures online to address these concerns (Dutta, et al, 2011). Should we want the government to do so if it means that we have to give up that all important freedom?

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Conclusion

The law attempts to balance individual rights with the rights of society. Two areas in which this conflict is particularly challenging are intellectual property rights as they relate to online materials and the new kinds of surveillance that digital media enable. There are many ways to violate copyright laws unintentionally; especially if one is not educated on the things you can or cannot do with or without the permission from the copyright holder. The Internet has made it much easier for us to make mistakes on sharing copyright materials, but the main issue lie where the Internet makes it so much easier to intentionally share materials that are unlawfully.

Copyright laws must construct a balance that fully supports creativity of high-quality and high-investment work. Strong intellectual property rights are essential; at minimum, they are important to support creativity in contexts where the creation, collection, or distribution of the content requires substantial investment of time and resources. Open source projects offer opportunities for developers to be creative, to enjoy what they are doing, and to have a sense of accomplishment in their voluntary contributions to OSS projects.

Employers watch their employees to protect their assets, but there is also evidence that groups of employees are appropriating information and communication technologies to stare back at their employers, exposing unsavory practices and organizing collectively, prompting new thinking about resistance. Casual surfing on the web opens us up to being tracked for marketing purposes. An even bigger debate can be credited to the government surveillance of the Internet and how we feel about it. Should we want the government to increase surveillance of the Internet if it means that we have to give up that all important freedom?

References

Ball, K. (2010). Workplace Surveillance: An Overview. Labor History, 51(1), 87-106.

Dutta, S., Dutton, W. H., & Law, G. (2011). The New Internet World: A Global Perspective on Freedom of Expression, Privacy, Trust and Security Online. (cover story). INSEAD Working Papers Collection, (89), 3-34.

Hartman, D. (2012). Copyright Laws on Piracy. Ehow.com. Retrieved August 24, 2012. From http://www.ehow.com/list_6556051_copyright-laws-piracy.html

Merritt, C. (2012). Plagiarism and fair use. Ehow.com. Retrieved August 26, 2012. From http://www.ehow.com/about_6536466_plagiarism-fair-use.html

Nimmer, R. T. (2011). Information Wars and the Challenges of Content Protection in Digital Contexts. Vanderbilt Journal Of Entertainment & Technology Law, 13(4), 825-879.

Sen, R., Subramaniam, C., & Nelson, M. L. (2008). Determinants of the Choice of Open Source Software License. Journal Of Management Information Systems, 25(3), 207-239.

Stillman, J. (2007). Digital Surveillance at work:  Where’s the line? CBSNews.com. Retrieved August 25, 2012. From http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505125_162-28040992/digital-surveillance-at-work-wheres-the-line/