When you think Napster, you think music. When I found out that we had the ability to do some extra credit about a music site, I was ecstatic. I use sites like Napster all the time to download and share all types of music and sometimes, even videos. Digital copy-write laws for these types of files seem almost non-existent. I thought that it was interesting to discover the impact this type of file sharing has on the written word.
It never really crossed my mind that sites such as Napster or Limewire can have such a huge impact on the copy writing of written works such as books, novels, and magazine articles. The article states that these file sharing sites were the jumpstart of a type of “online plagiarism” and copy-write infringement. If students think that it is ok to “steal” music, where do we draw the line? Will people eventually stop buying books at a bookstore because they can download them online for free? These questions cannot be answered right now, but I can tell you one thing: authors and copywriters are doing everything in their power to keep this from happening.
Not to long ago, TV was pretty much shut down. Writers were going on strike, why; Because of this issue!
The Internet is forever changing the face of writing. You can share your thoughts and ideas simply by posting a blog or a video on a website. While I am one of the millions of culprits taking advantage of free downloads over the Internet, I can understand why writers want to change the laws revolving their products. Napster was just the start of the whole fiasco, and it will continue to grow as long as the Internet grows. This class has shown me that all the possibilities, file sharing networks, informational ecologies, even social bookmarking sites. What does this say about the future? Only time can tell.
