Internet and the Law (Week 9)
If you have a website with a .com domain name then you are subject to US jurisdiction (Kumar 2012). This means the US can take down your website or even extradite you to the USA if the content is perceived as violating their law – even if it is legal in your country. I think this is an interesting situation; while it seems fair if the content was directly threatening to the US (such as a security risk or major pirating operation), in different circumstances it is unfair if the content is genuine and harmless and the US has inappropriately taken it down. Reilly Mchugh explores this jurisdiction further in their blog.
Another legal issue involving the internet is piracy.
(Advanced Television 2011)
It is estimated that a third of the Australian population “is active in some form of movie piracy” (AFACT 2011, 3) and this has cost the Australian economy over $1.3 billion in 2010 alone (AFACT 2011; Bulbeck 2011) – if this is the effect on our small industry, imagine the impact movie piracy has on the American Film Industry! This is a huge problem that is damaging the worldwide entertainment industry and greatly impacting jobs. As a film student I am well aware of the consequences movie piracy has, and numerous advertising campaigns have attempted to educate the wider audience on this such as the MPAA’s ‘Get the Real Picture’ campaign (MPAA and The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting 2008).
(MPAA 2011)
Darryl Woodford (Woodford 2012) states that policy exists at different levels on the internet, however piracy highlights the difficulty of enforcing these regulations.
It’s really not that hard to borrow or buy a DVD legally.
References:
Advanced Television. 2011. “New program fights online movie piracy?” Image. Accessed May 6, 2012. http://advanced-television.com/index.php/2011/01/31/new-program-fights-online-movie-piracy/
AFACT (Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft). 2011. Economic consequences of movie piracy: Australia. Accessed May 6, 2012. http://www.afact.org.au/assets/research/IPSOS_Economic_Consequences_of_Movie_Piracy_-_Australia.pdf
Bulbeck, Pip. 2011. “AFACT: Australia Lost Over $1.3 Billion to Film Piracy in 2010.” The Hollywood Reporter, February 17. Accessed May 6, 2012. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/afact-australia-lost-13-billion-101085
Kumar, Vikram. 2012. “Have a .com web address? Know the legal risks.” The National Business Review, March 19. Accessed May 5, 2012. http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/have-com-web-address-know-legal-risks-ck-113355
MPAA (Motion Picture Association America). 2011. “Governments Around The World Take A Stand For Creators, Consumers”. Image. Accessed May 6, 2012. http://www.mpaa.org/contentprotection/public-service-announcements
MPAA (Motion Picture Association America), and The City of New York Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting. 2008. Get the Real Picture Ad Campaign Targets NYC Subways. Accessed May 6, 2012. http://www.iccwbo.org/uploadedFiles/BASCAP/Pages/Get%20the%20Real%20Picture.pdf
Woodford, Darryl. “KCB206 New Media: Internet, Self and Beyond: Week 9 Lecture Prezi Notes.” Accessed May 6, 2012. http://blackboard.qut.edu.au/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_81726_1%26url%3D
