Thank-you Nadir for sharing your presentation. Great comments Louis and Merdan! There is my three cents:)

The industry has shifted dramatically to cloud based delivery platforms for everything from music to software applications. In large part this, combined with other significant advances in technology capabilities (network, application design, mobile, etc) is serving to mitigate some of the very reasons why piracy exists in the first place.

For example, in the music industry it is now so convenient to legally purchase a single song and have it immediately rendered to every device owned with accompanying artwork and other artifacts, that it has created sufficient value for most consumers so as to make piracy inconvenient by comparison. Indeed we can see that in this example, although music piracy still exists, if anything it has become a supporting component of the music ecosystem - people may still illegally download songs, but there is sufficient value for ‘99 cents’ that they will still go to a legitimate music service and download it. In addition, the shift towards small, consumable, incremental pricing - purchasing individual songs for 99 cents, vs being required to purchase an entire album for $14.99 has again reduced the incentives and benefits of downloading the music illegally. It is important also to note the market now shifting significantly to an on-demand ‘radio’ model where curated playlists (Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music) are again of a value that cannot be realised through piracy. Lastly, cloud storage services are rendering the use of ‘blank cds’ obsolete. Many computers are no longer available with CD drives. In short, there is no action that needs to be taken; technology has completely overtaken the existing legislation, policy and approaches undertaken by government and rendered it largely irrelevant.

 Have a great Holidays!

Bozena

I am curious which service allows the purchase of a song and permits its use on any device DRM free. Spotify does offer something similar, but you are only renting the song. Once your membership expires, the song cannot be played on any device.

I am not an expert in this domain:( but I've found this reading interesting:)

Happy reading! 

10 Best (and DRM-free) Online Music Stores

http://www.techhive.com/article/155512/online_music_drm.html

Hi Nadir,

I didn't see any either so also posted on my own! Very interesting topic on Internet vigilantism. It's hard to say whether people are in the right or wrong for publically voicing their thoughts against certain people. I see one danger that a mass of people can be easily influenced by what they see or read and to make assumptions and condemn the person before any proof can be made. The problem with judging just a picture, is that it is just that, there is no context or background. At least with our judicial system the person is considered innocent until proven guilty. But what is making me wonder is those actions online that are completely morally wrong, perhaps the internet shaming is a good thing? In some sense people are being controlled and punished by the mass for not right actions. I almost think that internet shaming is a much higher level of shaming then being prosecuted in a traditional means, as that information stays on the internet for a very long time. People can look you up and your past is very hard to erase. What are your thoughts Nadir?

Leah

I believe that online shaming is abhorrent to be honest. If a crime was committed by an individual, justice should be served through law enforcement and the judicial system. If a law was not broken and an individiual simply committed a social crime (a la double dipping), people should just let it go. People do stupid things in their lives. It is inevitable. I do not think it is right to punish someone so mercilessly for a moment of poor judgement. I mean, people have lost their livelihood over photographs or a tweet, which were likely taken completely out of context.

However, you raise a good point Leah. If an act is morally wrong, it is not necessarily illegal. Does society need to brandish pitchforks and take justice in their own hands? Yes, the dentist/hunter that hunted and killed Cecil the lion committed a deplorable act. I cannot deny that I was saddened that such a beautiful creature was taken from this planet for nothing more than sport. However, public shaming of the individual did not really achieve much in the long run. More could have been achieved through the combined effort of the shamers if they focussed on educating the public on the plight of endangered species (for instance).

That being said, Jon Ronson came away from his encounter better off for the online shaming that resulted from him posting his interview on YouTube. The interview is hilarious by the way and a must-see. It can be found in my second reference in my post above.