Weekly Discussion #5: File Sharing over the Internet

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The fastest way of getting the Internet-savvy rakyat all up in arms is to try and deny them something that they have come to accept as common practice.

As the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) ordered all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block a number of file-sharing websites, Malaysians expressed their unhappiness and scorn for the move.

This reopened the intellectual property piracy issue that pre-dates the Internet, and only escalated with the easy availability of high-speed broadband access.

According to an MCMC spokesperson, the blocking of file-sharing websites was done on the request of the Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Ministry with the belief that they were breaching Section 41 of the Copyright Act 1987.

Local computer and Internet users were unanimous over how futile that move was, especially when most people already know how to access blocked websites.

A number of them pointed out that the true victims of this move would be people who have legitimate content and reasons for using that site.

There are software and game companies that utilise file-sharing sites to distribute their products.
Some use these sites to distribute large PDFs that do not fit in most e-mails.

Some people use file-sharing sites simply because it is easier to upload something once and share it with multiple friends over a span of time.

What do you think? Join in the discussion below!

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