Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
FIGURE 4.1
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is advocating a reform of the copyright laws
in the United States. (Advertisement from the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Copyright
© 2011 by Electronic Frontier Foundation [Creative Commons]. Reprinted with permis-
sion.)
student Joel Tenenbaum refused to settle out of court, was found guilty of violating copy-
right law by downloading and sharing 30 songs, and ordered by the jury to pay record
companies $675,000 [5]. (A judge later reduced the penalty to $67,500 [6].) Opposing
the RIAA, the Electronic Frontier Foundation has urged Americans to put pressure on
Congress to change copyright laws (Figure 4.1) [7].
As a society we benefit from access to high-quality music, movies, computer pro-
grams, and other products of the human intellect. The value of these intellectual prop-
erties is much higher than the cost of the media on which they are distributed, tempting
people to make unauthorized copies. When this happens, producers of intellectual prop-
erty do not receive all the payments the law says they are entitled to. The legal system
has responded by giving more rights to the creators of intellectual property. Are these
