Peer-to-peer ("P2P") technology allows people to share files worldwide via the web. However, a significant amount of this transferable data appears to be within copyright infringement and accessed via illegal means. Because of file sharing, many larger bodies and corporations have come together to find an agreement to stop this excessive copyright infringement. One such plan is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which aims to stop file sharing by stripping internet users of their formerly guaranteed privacy. Should an act like this pass, the future of creativity and economic development will be seriously questioned.

 Though not so recent, this article highlights the importance of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and it’s preliminary role in defending privacy against lawmakers. The article reports that the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, a music-industry based group, attempted to block filtration devices that were used to transfer copyrighted material illegally. The EFF claimed that this move was an “ineffective measure that will do little to practically address the concerns of major rights holders while imposing serious costs on the individual rights of European citizens.” Recording industry groups further asked filtering technology makers, such as Audible Magic, to block users’ access to specific peer-to-peer file-sharing services.

This article targets yet another example of the entertainment industry (and the ACTA by extension) pretending to tailor the Internet to what it wants as opposed to operating with the way the Internet actually works. Developments like this also demonstrate that defenses, such as the EFF, actually do exist and strongly advocate the privacy of Internet users. This relates specifically to my thesis in that it shows the early steps toward the formation of a defense against global control of file sharing.

This article posted by the Motion Picture Association of America announced that Swedish authorities shut down Pirate Bay, one of the world's largest and best known facilitators of online piracy. ThePirateBay.com is a pirate “tracker” that allows people to access pirated movies and music, making 157,000 illegal files available to the general public. Some titles include blockbuster hits such as the Da Vinci Code, Mission Impossible: III, and a number of other tities. The shutting down of Pirate Bay, according to the MPAA, represents an appreciation for the respect of intellectual property abroad. Sweden, in particular, reformed its copyright law in July of 2005 to tackle digital piracy. Because of piracy, the major motion picture studios lost approximately 6.1 billion dollars in revenue in 2005. Of this amount, roughly 2.3 billion was lost to internet piracy alone. To combat these losses, The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) plans to launch a multilateral attack on internet piracy, including educating the public about the fines they might incur for contributing to it. Additionally, this multi-level attack plans to incorporate harsher punishment for those failing to adhere to MPAA standards about film copying and distribution. The article sites the Razorback2 file-swapping server, which was shut down by Belgian and Swiss authorities, ending sharing between roughly 1.3 million users. This effort, in combination with the shutting down of Pirate Bay, appears to be the MPAA’s largest motivation for shutting down other file sharing networks across the globe.

In relation to my thesis, this serves as a great example for the ACTA’s justification in limiting the passage of material from peer-to-peer.    Additionally, this particular case highlights the influences of file sharing on the motion picture industry, which in combination with the music industry, is considered to be the largest source of revenue for pirates abroad. Though succinct, this article emphasizes the importance of ACTA’s cause and provides another example of the other industries being influenced by piracy.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the tenets regarding the proposed Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). The proposal is drafted by Japan, the EC, the US and Switzerland as of now for a plurilateral anti-counterfeiting agreement. The report delves further into the issue of piracy by identifying factors studied by the OECD. The OECD report highlights that negative impacts on individual property right’s holders include decreased sales volumes, prices and royalties complemented by limited research and development. In the context of file sharing, this could potentially damage the image of product sales and bigger companies due to the lack of proper revenue being brought in. This trade discussion paper is also provides information about Australian participation in the ACTA negotiations. Areas further discussed within the legal framework include criminal enforcement and border measures. These just serve as a few of the potentially stringent new plans to be carried out should the ACTA be passed.

This article seems to be similar to the ACTA information sheet, but provides a more comprehensive look at the future of file sharing and problems associated with it. However, the claims tend to blanket all issues of piracy and copyright infringement and thus leave out a lot of information regarding file sharing. In reference to my thesis, this seems to provide early evidentiary support for the ACTA’s prototype and the legalities that would come along with its passing.

This article primarily focuses on the music industry and the influences of file sharing on the advancement of sales. This introspective look on one particular facet of file sharing also promotes further analysis of future complications that may result from the passing of the ACTA. Author Alejandro Zentner claims that music sales have fallen substantially over the past four years. To support this theory, the author uses modeling techniques with country-level data to determine particular facets of the industry that are most heavily influenced and effected. Zentner’s studies showed that countries with higher internet usage and broadband penetration suffered the highest drops in music sales, suggesting that illegal music downloading explains the reduction in sales. Within this model, the author further extrapolates that file sharing may explain the change in the composition of music sales over the past four years. The conclusion Zentner comes to states that "strong intellectual property rights create monopoly distortions, but weak property rights may lead to low creation of artistic work. The development of faster connections and methods of accessing information more efficiently will severely impact the sales of goods." As a result, intellectual property rights are compromised over the mass dissemination of music, and other goods, through illegal downloading.

This article provides a particularly nice vantage point from which to look at the effects of file sharing on the economy. Zentner’s analysis examines these effects in a quantitative manner and links reasons for the ACTA’s birth over the past few years. Though focusing more on the drop in music sales over the past few years, this article looks at the effects of file sharing on the shape of sales, a strong influence on my argument about the future of file sharing.

The purpose of this note is to address foreign countries that harbor counterfeiters that by association indirectly support the act of piracy. This piece of literature further argues that the primary effect of piracy on foreign economies would seem to be a substitution of sales and profits away from American subsidiaries to locally owned companies. With this movement of sales, this substitution contributes to a reduction in producers’ surplus and allows for a short run gain in profit for foreign economies. As such, this reduction in the inflow of foreign investment will strengthen the perception of those foreign countries being susceptible to piracy, labelling them as less appealing markets. The second part of the article further distinguishes the differences between government protection and market protection. The macroeconomic effects of piracy that are discussed also relay the idea that domestic consumers benefit from lower "priced" imports that are acceptible substitutes for the "original" goods. With this idea in mind, the author argues that the U.S. has a strong influence on global productivity because of its economy’s incredible efficiency. Firmly holding this notion, the author believes that greater flexibility in distribution techniques can mitigate piracy problems. Though this article does not address peer-to-peer file sharing directly, it seems obvious that this issue would be heavily implicated in piracy and copyright infringement.

The future of file sharing seems bleak considering that the U.S. has decided to form alliances with other nations in order to rally support against broad-range piracy. This article in particular addresses the act more and strongly defines what constitutes an act of piracy and the damaging effects on various economies. I found this to be of use since it defined the umbrella term of piracy and how file sharing could be grouped within this category, since shared material appears to be the "lower" priced import. The notes following the read provide more legislative material to justify the claims of the author. Either way, this piece provides information about preliminary control over piracy issues and future implications that may result from actions taken by larger corporations and organizations.

This research project provides a considerably strong and opinionated argument against the passing of the ACTA. Theorist Aaron Shaw argues that the ACTA will create harsh legal standards that infringe on the principles of a democratic government and civil liberties. Shaw further states that the USTR is just one of many organizations that is taking part in the formation of this agreement, a fact unknown to most file sharing users. The author further writes that service providers will be protected from the actions of their subscribers, throwing their own internet users under the train tracks of the law. If signed, this agreement would put money back in the hands of a few wealthy states and corporations while simultaneously crushing the rest of the world . This rejection of multilateralism will laud the usage of the DRM and other technology-blocking devices that prevent existing file sharing/transfer of information. Many large, multinational companies such as Microsoft and Time-Warner both agree that their software and liabilities would be better protected after the passing of this, but Shaw argues that they are overlooking the patents being passed on user-generated software, such as Myspace. This highlights many other points about the importance of user-generated interfaces such as Apple’s App store and the restrictions that would be placed on future products made by users.

This article provides a good third party view on the ACTA and the preliminary steps taken against its passing. Shaw’s outlook, though highly biased towards the liberalization of the media and its associated property rights, does provide a few good points about the potential consequences should this be approved. Though the passing of this bill could serve to help larger companies, the stress placed on consumers could serve as a double-edged sword for the larger service providers. The thesis within which my argument is framed specifically focuses on the transfer of information, so Shaw’s argument on the ethics of file sharing and the blockage of information seems to benefit my stance most. I highly recommend this source as a good introduction to the opposition against the ACTA.  Shaw also provides a clear argument against the passing of this and the future consequences that may result in both a theoretical and economical context.

The proliferation of piracy and counterfeiting appears to pose a threat to the development of the economy. It is believed that these infringements deprive legitimate businesses of proper income, while simultaneously limiting innovation and creativity. To combat these changes, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement serves to establish among nations a way to combat global infringements of copyrighted works.  Individual property rights’ protection via the ACTA will increase international cooperation, strengthen the framework of practices that contribute to effective enforcement of IPRs, and strengthen relevant IPR enforcement measures themselves. The provisions of the act stress international cooperation via improving technical assistance. This includes building relationships with organizations such as Comcast and other internet service providers to develop better restrictions on file sharing. These restrictive forces, when applied, will provide an easier way to control the transfer of illicit information via peer-to-peer sharing.

The ACTA's passing controls the future of file sharing and the implications involved in the advancement of these proposed restrictions. By taking this movement global, the ACTA will be able to infiltrate all forms of control and severely handicap the transfer of information. This block in file sharing appears to be the world's way of fixing our failing economy. Though this intends to strengthen the cause for the protection of individual property rights, this agreement severely stunts the growth of information and creativity from peer-to-peer. Joining other organizations in order to crack down on file sharing will enhance the opposition to find alternate paths to acquiring this information, a situation this agreement further fails to address. Though succinct, this article appears to highlight central arguments and provides constant updates on legislative procedures taken against the EFF.

 “We could reject the notion that Internet culture must oppose profit, or that profit must destroy Internet culture. But real change will be necessary if this is to be our future- changes in law, and changes in us.” These words spoken by heralded Creative Commons’ co-founder Lawrence Lessig really capture the attitude within which many officials are acting when addressing IPR. Lessig argues that many trials, ranging over Youtube videos to Girl Talk compilations, are responsible for the limitation on creativity of users. Lessig states that the release of the “remix” culture from the shackles of copyright owners could drive extraordinary economic growth. This "create as well as consume" culture can and will inspire a deeper, much more meaningful practice of learning. Lessig further supports that the war in this century is against the pirates and has resulted in a failed effort to get them to stop sharing. His closing statements reveal that it is necessary to decriminalize Generation-X since peer-to-peer sharing has only gotten stronger with technological advances present today.

This article provides a lot of hope for the future of creativity since Lessig addresses that restrictions, such as the ACTA, will inhibit economic advancement. Currently speaking, mashups and compilations of other works appear to be selling well and appeal to the market the most. Lessig’s approach appeared useful in my argument about the future of file sharing since it implied that it is a necessary evil. In contrast to other theorists, this movement towards a more liberalized outlook on copyrighted works can better the economy within reasonable means. Lessig’s article, in addition to being highly engaging, highlights points rarely brought up by other legal system analysts.

From a legal perspective, the DRM could significantly influence the distribution and control of information from country to country. This article in particular provides a clear overview of what the DRM system actually is and the policies it entails. Additionally, the role of copyright protection is also included in this overview of the DRM, establishing the bases for the regulatory approaches undertaken by the US and the EU. In reference to background information, DRM systems use a variety of technological protection measures to prevent digital content from being distributed without the right holders' consent. To provide secure distribution for digital content, DRM systems not only have to protect content against copying, but they must also offer a means to identify and manage content. The DRM thus strives to provide tamper-resistant hardware and software. This method of protection disables hackers and network insiders from being able to crack multiple levels of security, strengthening the protection of individual property rights'. In reference to the U.S., the U.S. congress enacted complex anticircumvention regulations as part of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act of 1998. The DMCA arranges these provisions on a biplanar scheme, which includes distinguishing between technological protection measures and the protection rights of the copyright owner.

This example seems to showcase the progressive changes in protection measures taken against copyright infringement. Though dense in its offerings, this article provides a decent anthology of acts and agreements enacted in order to protect individual property rights. This anthology further demonstrates the morphing of protective technology against copyright infringement. In the context of the ACTA, the DRM seems to be desired block against piracy and the illicit transfer of information.

         Media moghul Comcast plans to use protocol agnostic controls to manage online traffic. Comcast, a US cable provider, strives to appease global IPR parties by mediating broadband traffic via time-spaced analysis of internet usage.  As a result, the normally strengthened pipeline for information transfer is deemed as severely handicapped via this inevitable middleman. It thus comes as no surprise that “Comcast’s objective here is still largely to prioritize NON-peer-to-peer traffic above P2P sharing." Commentator Shaun Nichols writes that Comcast plans to use these deliberate traffic limits in order to prevent users from occupying large chunks of bandwidth with the use of P2P services. Comcast claims that online traffic will be analyzed every 15 minutes in order to rank users based on the amount of bandwidth each is occupying. Individuals who appear to be occupying large amounts of bandwidth will be placed at a lower priority for network access, inhibiting access to peer-to-peer applications. This compromise will be met with increased speed for web page viewing during peak access times, leaving non-peer-to-peer users at a general advantage as far as web surfing is concerned. Not to our surprise, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) found this to be an improvement over the ACTA’s (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) initial stringent regulatory stance on file sharing.
         The structure of my argument hinders upon the past and future implications of file sharing legislation. Considering that the middle man (in this case the service provider) is of central importance to the movement of information across the web, it makes for a nice standstill between the normally warring EFF and ACTA. However, the ACTA’s ability to recruit more providers across the country could force users to look elsewhere for alternative means of accessing information. Though this article addresses the role of internet providers in information transfer, it largely ignores the general transfer of information via Bluetooth and other external devices that can also be used in file sharing.