Your Name Victoria Terhaar Class time: 12 pm
Name of Movie: Steal this Film
Year: 2006
Producers: The Pirate Bay
1. What questions/thoughts/reactions do you have after watching this film? (QUESTIONING):
o Is there any way that the founders of The Pirate Bay do make a profit from their website? Are there ads that they collect revenue from?
o If the internet is the same in all countries then why are the laws that countries are supposed to abide by for it different?
o I think the government should take a different approach other than suing The Pirate Bay to try and control them. Possibly try to fight technology with technology?
2. Foundation (UNDERSTANDING):
a. What is the Pirate Bay?
The Pirate Bay is one of the largest peer to peer file sharing websites known throughout the world. On this website a person can download music, movies, games, computer application for free. This website is run from Sweden where it is legal.
b. What do they stand for (what is their mission)?
The mission of The Pirate Bay is to keep available the free and accessible download of movies, music, computer applications and games, and other entertainment to the public. They are set in their beliefs that what they are doing is legal under the Swedish law and other countries shouldn’t be able to interfere with their company.
c. What is their purpose for making and distributing this film as a free download?
Their purpose is to not seem like a hypocrite and have free movies for download on the Pirate Bay website, but not have their movie be a free download. I also think that it helps solidify the Pirate Bay’s argument because they are fine with having their movie available to the public for free which is legal in Sweden anyways.
3. Provide 3 referenced connections to Baase readings (LINKING).
a. The Napster case relates to the film the court ruled that the large scale copying on the website was illegal copyright infringement, not fair use, and that is what the MPAA wanted to sue The Pirate Bay for. (pg. 210)
b. The MGM v. Grokster case deals with the new challenge of copying files among users on the internet without a central service, and that is partly how Bram Cohen’s site BitTorrent works, using a decentralized service to share large files. (pg. 211)
c. I feel that one question that Baase asked in the reading, “Should we ban or restrict software, a technology, a device, or research because it has the potential for illegal use, or should we ban only the illegal uses?” applies to the film because the main issue this film deals with is the illegality of certain websites and their actions. So should the websites be restricted because of what is happening on them, or just what is taking place within the websites? (pg. 215)
4. There are at least 10 people interviewed in this film. Name 5 of these people, explain why they are included in the film (why they are significant). How do they relate/add information to the overall theme of the film (KNOWLEDGE):
a. Bram Cohen was included in this film because he was the inventor of BitTorent and that is the website where The Pirate Bay gets the shared files from.
b. Dan Glickman was included in this film because he was the chairman of the MPAA and that is the company that was suing The Pirate Bay for copyright infringement.
c. Sebastian Lutgert was included in this film because he is a supporter of pirate cinema and he contributes to the argument backing up the legal downloading of files on the internet.
d. Yochai Benkler of Yale Law School was included in this film because he isn’t biased towards anyone one side of The Pirate Bay, he looks at the arguments from both points of view.
e. Fred Von Lohmann was included in this film because he is an attorney for EFF and he looks at the criminal and civil aspects of the case in a legal matter.
5. Name, and define, 3 significant people interviewed in the movie (KNOWLEDGE):
a) Peter Sunde- Co-founder of The Pirate Bay and was found guilty in the trial against Pirate Bay
b) Fredrik Neij- Co-founder of The Pirate Bay and was found guilty in the trial against Pirate Bay
c) Gottfrid Svartholm- Co-founder of The Pirate Bay and was found guilty in the trial against Pirate Bay
4. What are the main ideas being discussed within this movie? By referencing the book, make 2 connections between Baase and this film (COMPREHENSION).
The main ideas being discussed within this movie are the fight between old and new ways of distributing information and what should and shouldn’t be illegal and the idea of whether piracy infringes on people’s intellectual property rights. A connection between Baase and this film is with the Fair Use Doctrine, it allows it to in some particular circumstances be alright to use copyrighted material, and in the film it is alright to use copyrighted material in Sweden but not in the United States (pg. 206). Another connection between Baase and the film is that both pieces of work appreciate the history of copyright infringement laws and intellectual property rights because both take time to mention how it is the laws exist today (pg. 203-206).
5. What is BitTorrent? Explain what it does and how this technologic advancement had changed society. (COMPREHENSION)
BitTorrent is a new peer to peer file sharing website that allows a person to download large files from different countries and different people. This site makes downloads harder to track to a single user because it allows user to download from each other simultaneously. This technologic advancement has changed society in the way that it has helped people be able to download large files faster by being connected to more people throughout the world at one time.
6. Based on the main point off this film (If you don’t understand read: http://stealthisfilm.com/Part2/). Where do you see connections to your experiences, or within society – BE SPECIFIC AND REFERENCE THE BOOK (APPLICATION)?
I see connection to the main point of this film in my everyday life because I constantly see and hear about people watching movies on the internet, or I hear names of different websites where people are able to download music for free. A specific example would be when I first heard about the website Netflix, and that website has certain movies and television shows a person can watch instantly.
7. Analyze what you’ve watched. Use your Baase connections. What do you think is the future of distribution, production and creativity? What do you think is the future of Intellectual Property in the Information Age? ? (ANALYSIS)
I think the future of distribution, production and creativity is that it is going to become even more digitized than it already is. This world is becoming smaller every day and more jobs are being sacrificed to technology and I feel that at least distribution and production industries are going to become completely over the internet because of the convenience and cheapness. The creativity field will become more complex within their work but the actual creative process will stay the same because people love entertainment the way it is. I think there is no future for intellectual property in the information age because illegal downloading and file sharing is taking over the internet at a rapid pace and I feel that the government is going to have to come up with something new to protect people’s work.
8. Do you think that downloading is stealing someone’s Intellectual Property? Why or why not? Back up with Baase (ANALYSIS)?
I do feel that downloading legally is not stealing someone’s intellectual property, however if the download is illegal then it is stealing of someone’s intellectual property. This is because what a person may come across and download illegally off of the internet is another person’s work. People like to have control over their work and if it is a form of entertainment, distribute it how they see fit. Downloading illegally means stealing because the person who put time and effort into the thing that is being downloaded isn’t getting credit for their work.
9. How do you see issues of copyright and Intellectual property effecting the world 50 years from today? BE SPECIFIC (SYNTHESIS)
I think that because technology is always evolving, the governments in the United States and around the world are going to have to find ways to deal with copyright infringement and Intellectual property rights without all the lawsuits that have been happening in recent years. Fifty years from now I can see everything in the entertainment industry being really cheap for its customers because the government is going to have to find a compromise between illegal free downloading and selling their products for too expensive. Maybe the entertainment industry will begin working with the websites they’re trying to get rid of to make an even larger profit instead of suing each other and losing money on both ends,
10. Do you agree with what is being said within the movie? Explain. (EVALUATION)
I somewhat agree with what is being said within this movie because I do believe that there is a history to this issue, that it did begin with the printing of material and people needing to be in control of that information. The founders of The Pirate Bay seem very stuck in their views of keeping their download’s free and I don’t agree with that when the free downloads are available in countries where that is illegal. Illegal actions should be punished in appropriate ways and the raid of The Pirate Bay computers only gave the website more publicity.
11. Has your opinion shifted on this topic after watching this film? Have you created any new ideas after watching and thinking about this film? (EVALUATION)
My view has not really shifted on this topic after watching this film because I feel that just as technology is evolving, the laws that surround the technology needs to evolve with it. I agree with the fact that copyright infringement and Intellectual Property theft should be illegal because people take time and energy to produce the material and should get compensated for their work. With learning that these actions aren’t illegal in Sweden does open up some ideas about how countries need to work together to find a common ground on how to deal with public file sharing.
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