Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics Commons^™

Flying The Pirate Flag: Understanding The Fight Against And Prevalence Of The Internet Gift Economy, Zachary G. O'Leary

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

The number of citizens affected by common internet access makes arguments over its governance of primary concern to all. Peer-to-peer file sharing, oftentimes allowing for copyright infringement, is currently a major use of internet infrastructure. A review of the legislative and technological attempts to prevent such infringement, as well as the reasoning behind its prevalence, provides insight into the tension created by present intellectual property rights; this is a tension between those it intends to protect and to reward.