Law Commons^™

Is Online Copyright Enforcement Scalable?, Annemarie Bridy

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Article examines P2P file sharing and the copyright enforcement problem it has created through the lens of scalability. Part I traces the evolution of peer-to-peer (P2P) networks from Napster to BitTorrent, with a focus on the relative scalability of successive architectures. Part II takes up the difficult question of the scale of P2P infringement and its harms, examining the strategic number-crunching that underlies industry data on piracy, the government's credulous acceptance of that data, and the risk of letting industry hyperbole drive copyright policy and law enforcement priorities. Part III evaluates the efficacy of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act …

Unmasking The John Does Of Cyberspace: Surveillance By Private Copyright Owners, Amy Min-Chee Fong

Canadian Journal of Law and Technology

The goals of this paper are to: (1) explore the expectations of cyberspace privacy in a peer-to-peer context; (2) examine the consequences to Internet users arising from the surveillance tactics of private copyright owners; and (3) discuss possible ways in which a balance can be achieved between privacy and intellectual property rights. Part II of this paper sets out the meaning of information privacy, discusses the widespread use of peer-to-peer networks for trading copyrighted content, and examines the expectations of privacy in peer-to-peer networks. Part III discusses the surveillance tactics of private copyright owners, and explains how the surveillance of …

Solutions Are On Track, Beth A. Thomas

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note discusses the need to solve the copyright problems caused by digital file sharing over peer-to-peer networks and the possible solutions that would be acceptable to both the media industries and the public. While it is likely that the problems caused by file sharing will not decrease significantly by placing post-sales control in the hands of the artists, it is probable that legislative and industry driven technical counter-measures will be able to decrease illegal file sharing in an acceptable way.

Part I outlines copyright in general and how digital technology is pushing at the boundaries of copyright law. Part …

The Peer-To-Peer Revolution: A Post-Napster Analysis Of The Rapidly Developing File Sharing Technology, Joseph A. Sifferd

Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law

This Note will focus on A&M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc. and will include an analysis of copyright law applicable to the legality of the incipient peer-to-peer file-sharing technology. The first section provide a brief factual history and introduction to the Napster legal discussion. The second Section of this Note will include a survey of relevant copyright doctrines, followed by a discussion of the Ninth Circuit's analysis of these doctrines as applied to the facts presented in "Napster." Finally, I will address the future of the peer-to-peer phenomenon, including a review and analysis of different types of peer-to-peer networks that …