The Internet The New Frontier

Many people describe the Internet as the new frontier because of the lack of laws that govern it and the fact that no one owns the internet. Many countries also have varying laws so someone doing something illegal in Canada or the U.S. can't be prosecuted if it isn't illegal in the country the person resides. One issue with the Internet is copyright laws. Copyright laws have recently been affecting YouTube a lot lately. TV networks often take down videos from TV shows and music labels take down videos that people have made that have copyrighted music in them. There is also lots of issues with music sharing and if it's illegal. The arguments that music sharers have is that it's not illegal to lend someone a CD so why is it illegal to get music off programs like limewire. When people share music though they aren't just renting and if you are sharing music it is likely that more than one person is downloading it. Many people are also watching and downloading pirated movies which the film industry is trying to deter by having warning messages on DVDs. The music and film industry is pressuring governments to have stricter laws and prohibit music and video sharing. France has in the past year have made more laws so ISPs can view what their customers are doing so they can detect when someone is downloading illegal content so they can be prosecuted. Many other governments are not doing this because it is not a high priority. After all the music and film industry aren't suffering. For governments to be more concerned the music and film industry will have to be in financial trouble. For as much music sharing there is ITunes is still having millions of music and video downloads every day.