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With more and more users logging on to the “net” we find that piracy is a greater concern due to more ease of access to bootlegged files. This in and of itself is a problem for few, but solution to many. The few I talk of, are the film industry, the music industry and other sellers of artistic integrity. The many, are the consumers, who more often than not in this generation, have it ingrained that ‘we can download it first, and if we like it, then we will go out and purchase it when it is in retailers’. A simplistic view, illegal yet logical. People as a whole, do not like to find they have spent good money for “nothing”. And this, is at the heart of the matter. The largest method of file sharing across the “net” lately are Torrents, shown with the file extension .torrent.

These work by the “seed” or the person hosting the files registering on websites, known as

trackers, which serve as a point of contact between the original seeds and the people who leech off of them. Users can also download parts of files from their “peers”. Users who obtain the whole file(s) are then labelled as seeds and will upload the completed file to users. In and of itself, torrents are a simple and effective method of sharing files, however this is a double-edged sword as people upload “camrips” Camera rips, and then later “dvdrips” copies of DVD’s purchased of movies and music.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter:

As an act of prevention, or perhaps as a measure or controlling modern society, many Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) are now jumping on a bandwagon, where artists from industry such as game designing, music and film, can report people seeding their files (which by the way we must remind ourselves is their property) and the ISP can issue notice and then cut off Internet access to the building that is perpetrating the crime. When people are allowed to view what it is we are downloading, I personally believe that constitutes as a breach of privacy, no matter whether “we” as a populace are downloading illegal files or downloading legitimate files which we own the rights to. Others who feel the same have created programs, called peer guardians, which screen what you are downloading via peer to peer programs. However, if these are set to become a standard fixture, where we have to download third party programs just to protect our privacy, then our liberal democracy has just lost a lot of what made it a “liberal” democracy in the first place.

On the flip side, we have the artists that freely distribute what they make and request nothing in return. They accept donations but are made purely out of goodwill to the people. ] For example, I will use a peer guardian program named very simply “PeerGuardian” and “PeerGuardian2″. Made by Phoenix Labs, it is freely distributed by their website, and taken straight from their site

“Like PeerGuardian?

Consider donating or clicking on an interesting banner to help pay for our servers and further the development of PeerGuardian and other Phoenix Labs software.” – Phoenix Labs. As we can see, the makers of PeerGuardian, Phoenix Labs, make no demands for money, however if you enjoy the services that they provide, they request a donation to assist with running costs, or for you to click on banners made by sponsors, that pay them $X /month or year or provide them with some other form of compensation, such as web hosting in exchange for advertising on their site.

Another example of this goodwill idea is the Terra Bite lounge. This is a cafe/lounge that has a voluntary payment system that relies upon the integrity of its customers to make money. They provide a good service, and they request that the customers pay them however much they feel is appropriate. For example perhaps they may pay them the average price seen in other cafe’s for a coffee. It is also left to the integrity of the customer to decide -when- payment will be made for the goods and services provided by the Terra Bite lounge. I must stress the fact that the Terra Bite is not a charity, they still expect payment in the end of their services. This is explained upon the press release for the Terra Bite’s upcoming website.

“We are not a Charity.”

Terra Bite is a cafe/deli with a voluntary payment system. We don’t ask for charity. We believe we have better coffee and much better food than the cafe chains. All we ask is that those who can pay what they would elsewhere. It’s a convenience for both sides: regular customers can choose to pay once a week for their daily coffee; we get to eliminate all the cash handling and get a highly efficient operation that allows us to benefit the public, without asking for charity.

We also offer free wifi, free console games, and a better reading selection.

There is really no reason to go to the chains: patrons can do exactly what they do at the chains, get better coffee and food, with a better experience — and they can feel like they have done something good, which they have. ” -Terra Bite founder Ervin Peretz. The question that I believe everyone is asking, is “why, in this digital age, can we not have freedom to download what we will, and purchase what we will?” Perhaps it’s time we overcome this lack of trust in the rest of society for the ideals set out by men like Ervin Peretz, I am sure that given time, this would cut things like piracy of software and media to next to none, while the industries still make their money, for example the ability to download a song, and if you like it, perhaps pay a dollar to the artists for the song that you so enjoy.

Cutting the piracy also means cutting out the lack of privacy, being in a society built on trust. I don’t see this as being a short term thing though, it would have to be a trust built up over time, but then also, it could work out favourably for the companies and artists making the things currently being pirated.