Illegal Downloading is Theft, Pure and Simple
Who’s Watching?
The two primary groups that police the downloading of music and movies are the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). These two groups constantly monitor downloads and websites for copyright violation. They tend to pay close attention to colleges and universities. When they see that a song or movie has been downloaded illegally, they notify the school who then takes steps to internally identify the person who downloaded the file. There can be serious legal and financial ramifications to illegal downloading.
At Webster, Information Technology (IT) receives infringement notifications from the RIAA or MPAA. IT immediately makes a copy of the logs which enables activity to be traced back to a specific Internet port. Each port is associated with a person. Once the person has been identified, the information is turned over to the governing body for that individual (such as the Dean or Associate Dean of Students if the person lives on campus) for disciplinary actions.
Consequences of Illegal Downloading
Most of us don't have over half a million dollars lying around the house. But, if you download files which you have not paid for or share files without the permission of the copyright holder, you just might have to pay that much.
Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, distribution of copyright materials is punishable by law. Those found guilty of copyright infringement may face the following penalties:
· Up to five years in jail
· Fines and charges of up to $150,000 per file
· In addition to any other charges that might be brought against you, the copyright holder can file suit, which can result in legal fees and damages that must be paid. Recent cases have resulted in judgments against the person distributing the files for up to $80,000 per file. Here are some examples:
· "A federal jury on Friday concluded that a 25-year-old college student must pay $675,000 — or $22,500 for each of the 30 songs he was found liable of infringing" (Wired.com).
· In Minnesota, Jammie Thomas-Rasset, a single mother, was fined $80,000 for each of 24 songs, resulting in a total of $1,920,000, almost 2 million dollars.
本报记者阳光、华悦联合报道 喜欢下载电影、音乐或者软件等的华人要注意了，从2012年7月12日起，美国各大网络服务供应商将加强对网络下载行为的监控，对非法下载盗版影视、音乐或软件的用户提出警告，甚至会处以下调网速直至暂停服务的惩罚。
近日，全美录影工业联合会（the Recording Industry Association of America，RIAA)和美国动漫画影像协会（ the Motion Picture Association of America ，MPAA)对外宣布，将从2012年7月12日起，联合美国各大网络服务供应商，包括Verizon、Time Warner、Comcast等在内共同展开反盗版行动，行动内容涉及各种网络上未经授权即提供下载的影视、音乐或者软件等。据录影工业联合会与各大网络供应商的协议，每家供应商要根据自己的网络结构设立自动跟踪系统，并建立用户非法下载行为的数据库。
对被认定为非法下载的用户，网络供应商首先会发一至两封警告信，警告用户其非法下载的行为已被发现，并要求其删除。如果用户继续下载，将会收到一封确认信，确认用户确实收到前两次警告。如果用户依然我行我素，则可能会遭到降低网路速度，甚至暂停服务的处罚。 需要注意的是，从网络上观看和下载的区别。从网络上观看是没有问题的，但是你试图将其下载、备份那就不同了。无论你是否有商业意图，这种下载都是违法的。
华人社区的版权概念较为薄弱，记者电话采访了几家在孟菲斯和纳什维尔的几位华人，他们都表示在纽约的唐人街各式盗版的影碟充斥市场，连续剧每一集甚至卖到50美分，各式中外影片都有，而且做这样生意的华人非常多。由此被起诉的华人商家也逐年增多。记者了解到，目前在全美范围内已经有不少华人，尤其是留学生由于从网络下载未经授权的电影或软件而收到来自学校或网络供应商的警告信，要求其删除并承诺以后不再下载。而此前也发生过华人因下载24首盗版音乐而被法院判处罚金192万美元的案例。其中少数个案发生在田纳西州。目前盗版侵权案例最高可以被判罚下监五年的处罚。
记者从纳城的王氏律师事务所处了解到，在美国的华人，特别是新移民们，无论来自中国大陆，还是港澳台等地，常常会在中文的网站（服务器不一定在美国）上下载，下载的内容包括美国的影视制品，这些网络本身有着强烈的侵权倾向。在这样的网络上下载目前美国本土的监视体制，即使发现可能也没有什么办法处理之。对于那些服务器设在美国的中文网站，也必须在反盗版这个问题上有所作为。该事务所律师认为，网络侵权是一个值得华人思考和重视的问题。
目前在华人中比较流行的网络下载工具包括电驴、BT以及迅雷等，而这些网路下载工具的特点之一就是在下载同时也在上传，因此下载盗版软件或音像制品可能会招来双重惩罚。不过对于在线观看电影，尤其是使用浏览器观看视频，比如YouTube、优酷、土豆等则不需要考虑这一问题，因为其绝大多数视频都有版权，而且仅在线观看也并不会产生下载行为。对于使用一些视频软件观看，如PPS、PPTV、风行等，因其只是在后台下载，所以并非是完全下载，因此目前此种行为是否属于非法下载还尚未有定论，即使有责任往往也应由软件供应商方面承担。
不过目前，华人使用较普遍的网络供应商AT&T尚未就是否参加这一反盗版行动做出声明。不过，业界认为AT&T加入只是时间问题。
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