Published By: BBC, 1/11/2017

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Summary

A group of UK Internet service providers are attempting to crack down on piracy by sending emails to users of peer-to-peer services who have been flagged for piracy. The emails inform users about legitimate ways of acquiring content. Some argue that this is “too little, too late”, and that monitoring P2P traffic is not sufficient since many pirates now use direct downloads and streaming, which are not monitored.

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level of Article: 10

Extended Discussion Questions

• Do you think that this plan will be successful at slowing down piracy via P2P networking?
• This plan does not address piracy via direct downloads or streaming, and stopping those kinds of piracy would likely require further monitoring of users. What ethical issues could this additional monitoring raise?
• Do you think ISPs or the government have a right to investigate piracy accusations that have been traced to an individual’s IP address, regardless of whether the accuser has evidence that that individual is actually the pirate? Why or why not?

Relating This Story to the CSP Curriculum Framework

Global Impact Learning Objectives:

• LO 7.3.1 Analyze the beneficial and harmful effects of computing.

Global Impact Essential Knowledge:

• EK 7.3.1C Access to digital content via peer-to-peer networks raises legal and ethical concerns.

Other CSP Big Ideas:

• Idea 6 The Internet

Banner Image: “Network Visualization – Violet – Offset Crop”, derivative work by ICSI. New license: CC BY-SA 4.0. Based on “Social Network Analysis Visualization” by Martin Grandjean. Original license: CC BY-SA 3.0