Information giants Google and Wikipedia took varying forms of action last week to highlight their concerns over legislation before the US Congress that intends to crack down on internet piracy. The draft legislation in Washington has won the backing of Hollywood and music industry executives for its provision to shut down internet sites that allow for the sharing of pirated content. Any quick Google search allows any internet user to be directed to pirate sites. There, using simple transfer programmes, it's easy to obtain illegal copies of the latest movies or the latest music hits.
Few would argue that intellectual property, movies and music need to be protected, and the writers, artists and creators of such content need to ensure that their perspiration and inspiration is safeguarded and duly rewarded.
The explosion of information on the internet cannot be contained by simply shutting down sites. That's like saying, for example, cars kill, so shut down car factories, when the reality is that it is the motorists who are largely responsible for road deaths.
Where the current legislation goes astray is targeting the internet sites, not the internet users.
Any legislation to protect the artistic creations of writers, actors and musicians, must make it illegal for material to be copied and distributed in the first instance. And any user or downloader of illegally copied content must be heavily fined and prosecuted. Given the ease with which new websites can be created, the notion of shutting down the source sites is impractical. The operators of such sites will simply move their operations to offshore domains where copyright laws are weak or non-existent. Prosecutors would face the task of chasing the operators from one domain to another.
Artistic content needs to be protected. Those who possess or download illegal copies need to be prosecuted and deterred.
