Ethical Complications Of Online File Sharing

2071 Words5 Pages

Introduction After the technological revolution, people start having everything in their hand. Internet comes and opens many doors with it. People can find whatever they want within few minutes in the web pages. Similarly, people have an open choice what to share online. Online file sharing opens many doors with it including legal file sharing as well as illegal file sharing. People can easily break the copy right low and commit a crime online by sharing unlicensed software online. This report aims to inform the reader about copy right low, recent ethical scandals in file sharing, what is peer-to-peer file sharing, open source software versus pirated software, solution to software piracy, and different examples of online legal file sharing services. 1. Copy right low Copyright materials involve everything like songs, movies, TV shows, photographs, magazines, books, software, plays and websites that should have a copyright protection. The copyright law is the exclusive right to make copies of another individual’s work. The law states that files cannot be shared, copied and performed without the individual permission, as a reason of ethical issues and it is illegal to share files that have copyright protection (TopTenREVIEWS, 2014). 2. Recent ethical scandals in file sharing 2.1 Huge Pirated Music shut down “OiNK” is a web site which has defrauded and infringement huge number of pre-released music albums. A Cleveland police man said: “"Within a few hours of a popular pre-release track being posted on the OiNK site, hundreds of copies can be found further down the illegal online supply chain." Even though, the web site has gone under criminal investigation it is still accessible (News.bbc.co.uk, 2014). 2.2 FBI charges Mega Uploa... ... middle of paper ... ...hey must be aware if someone attacks their data and information, so they must secure their cloud service. Conclusion In conclusion, following ethics in file sharing is very important not only for individuals but to protect the copy right of the individual and the community. Each individual decision and act to stop breaking the copy right can make deference in community. Modern methods such as peer-to-peer solution make everything available online for the internet users. However, individuals should not use peer-to-peer to download illegal files such as unlicensed software. Solutions to this problem are simply educate individuals about risks of downloading unethical files as well as inform developers about how to protect their software. Every individual act in sharing and downloading unethical files over the internet can have a bad influence on the whole community.

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