![handle is hein.journals/jcolate3 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of International Commercial Law and Technology
Whodunit! Assessing Copyright Liability in Cyburbia:
Positing Solutions to Curb the Menace of Copyrighted 'File Sharing' Culture
Akhil Prasad
Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
akhfl_99@hotmail.com
Aditi Agarwala
Gujarat National Law University, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India
aditi_2k2002oyahoo.com
Abstract. The electronic age has kick started the information boom and with an ever
increasing pace, it has begun to spread its canvas to engulf mankind as its greatest beneficiary and
perhaps its most susceptible slave. This is evident from the universal phenomenon of copyrighted
file sharing culture promoted by P2P technologies. Indeed, the P2P architecture poses a threat to the
entertainment and software industries which stand on the legislative guarantee of copyright laws.
But technological advances have not only caused legislative obsolescence , but have also altered the
dynamics of information exchange in the online environment. The word 'State' seems to have lost
its meaning somewhere. Therefore, there is a pressing need on us, as an international society, to
devise alternative solutions and approaches to substantially curb the abuse of digital copyrighted
works, for copyright laws to have any meaning. It is this global concern which gives birth to this
paper.
Key Words: Online Piracy, P2P Software's, Secondary Infringement Liability, Private Copying, Policy Options
For economic incentives to work appropriately, property rights must protect the rights of capital
assets...At present...severe economic damage [is being done] to the property rights of owners of
copyrights in sound recordings and musical compositions...under present and emerging conditions,
the industry simply has no out...unless something meaningful is done to respond to the ... problem,
the industry itself is at risk.
-Alan Greenspan (1983)2
The wise words of the man who went to become the Chairman of Federal Reserve of the United States is germane
even today, when the century has turned a new leaf. Analog piracy is passe and digital piracy has become a global
concern. The borderless Internet, which originated in the United States is now a medium to which every man in
the world can enjoy a green card and which can be accessed from almost any part of the planet where civilization
exists.
From the times of Gutenberg's Printing Press to the modern day Internet technologies, a lot of water has
flown beneath the bridges. The world has witnessed a progressive transition from the physical tangible to the
ephemeral. We are leaving the industrial world of the past 250 years and entering the new networked world of
cyberspace - the global interactive multimedia information and communications network. (Lin, 2001, p. 1) We all
want to be a part of this digital information society and enjoy easy, quick and cheap access to varied genres of
entertainment media such as mp3 music, full length DVD movies, software, games etc. at the click of the mouse
button. Indeed, the pervasive information gateway has revolutionized the economics of accessing information and
bears an influence on every facet of the human specie be it trade and commerce, business and industry, stock
markets, laws and legislations, social and political environments, personal lives and personal relations of human
persons who are mere 'units' in the lawless waves of cyberspace.
The so-called copyright industries welcomed and rejoiced the dot corn boom, but soon realized and faced
the technological blow, the wounds of which haven't been healed unto this date. Indeed, much 'meaningful' work
has been done on the legal and technological front since Greenspan raised his concern in 1983, yet the above
concern seems crystallized in time and there is a pressing need to revisit the present, anticipate the future and posit
1This paper was first published in Kierkegaard, 5.(2007) Cyberlaw, Security and Privacy. IAITL.
2 From Greenspan's testimony in 1983 on the Home Recording Act. Hearings before the Subcommittee on Patents,
Copyrights and Trademarks, October 25, 1983. cf. Liebowitz, 5. (2003). In Gordon, W. J., Waif, R (eds.), The
Economics of Copyright: Developments in Research and Analysis. UK: Edward Elgar.
Vol. 3, Issue 1 (2008)](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jcolate3&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most