Napster Case Essay

The sharing of illegal or copyrighted material is against the law. Also known as copyright infringement is the act of violating any of a copyright owner’s exclusive rights granted by the federal Copyright Act. There are three elements that must be in place in order for the infringement to occur. (1)The copyright holder must have a valid copyright, (2).The person who is allegedly infringing must have access to the copyrighted work. And (3).The duplication of the copyrighted work must be outside the exceptions.

Overview of the crime: I used the Napster Case

Napster was an early peer-to-peer file sharing network which could be used for transmitting various files, but which attained massive popularity as a way to share music through .mp3s. Unsurprisingly, major record companies took issue with

large-scale distribution of their music for free, and sued Napster for direct, contributory, and vicarious infringement of copyright in order to protect their intellectual property.
Conductinga seizure of evidence
Probable cause
Obtain a search warrant
Execute search warrant
Chain of custody

Conducting a search
Secure the Scene
Secure the Computer as Evidence
Restrict access to computers and all other electronic devices
Interview people in the home at the time of the search

Investigative concerns
Hotspot wireless internet connections
• It allows individuals to access the internet on a computer or mobile device without wire connections.

This is a concern because hackers can hack into an unsecure network and steal valuable information from individuals or companies without their knowledge. Downloading music from the site opened up thepossibility of identity theft.

Remote storage systems

• With remote storage systems hackers can secretly backup files from computers and can access them later. It creates the possible theft of hackers sending virus out, stealing confidential and personal information from others.

Encryption technologies

• Encryption works by securing a network. Encryption is used to protect information such as social security numbers, banking information, company information and credit card information. Without encryptiontechnologies hackers could plant viruses, making everyone susceptible to identity theft. When you download music from the site there are multiply downloads to choose from.

Anonymizer

software
• An anonymizer is a proxy server that makes Internet activity untraceable. An anonymizer protects personally identifying information by hiding private information on the user's behalf. If hackers were using anonymizer software no one would be able to trace the information they took from individuals every time they visited the site to download music.

Conclusion
I think if we use protective measure we can possibly crack down on the sharing of illegal or copyrighted material. Education is key. The more people we educate about illegal downloading and how serious of a crime it is I think more people would be mindful before the download illegal material.