Watching/Thoughts: Steal this Film

Tom Burtless Class time: 11 A.M.

Name of Movie: Steal this Film
Year: 2006
Producers: The Pirate Bay


What questions/thoughts/reactions do you have after watching this film? (QUESTIONING):

1.This move has made me had a greater sense of pride in the piracy I have engaged in over the past few years.
2.How to popular/mainstream artists, musicians, authors, and film makers look at the idea behind piracy?
3.How will the movie or music industry embrace peer to peer technology the similar way they have embraced technology they resented before?




Foundation (UNDERSTANDING):
What is the Pirate Bay?

Pirate Bay is a website in which you can get torrent files from, to use in a torrent application such as BitTorrent or uTorrent. These torrent files connect you to a variety of peers who have the file that you are trying to obtain. Through this connection, you obtain the file or files (whether it be software, music, or movies).

What do they stand for (what is their mission)?

They stand for the distribution of information, through sharing it and spreading it as far possible.


What is their purpose for making and distributing this film as a free download?

To show how copying and distributing information has changed in our society. By adding to that in offering this movie for free, they show their point. Media and the people behind mass media today are trying to stop the sharing of information through the ways discussed in the film, and Pirate Bay embraces it.


Provide 3 referenced connections to Baase readings (LINKING).

1.Baase discusses Napster in section 4.2, which is heavily discussed in the movie (p.209, Baase 2008).

2.Baase talks about different audio labels utilized DRM technologies to try to prevent piracy, but they inevitably were hacked and put to extinction. This proves the resilience discussed in the movie of people to obtain information (p.216-217, Baase 2008).

3.In section 4.3 Baase discusses the retaliation made by the media industries towards individuals and groups of people trying to share movies and music. The movie discusses this same topic at the start of the film (p.213-214, Baase 2008).






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):

1.Yochai Benkler - He is a representative from Yale Law School. He gives a perspective of the legislative background to the ideas and complications of piracy and modern day media distribution.

2.Aaron Swartz - He is a co founder of reddit.com, which is a huge website/forum in the Internet. He gives a perspective on the change that the Internet can bring, and how peer to peer type technology will be a staple for the information age.

3.Fred von Lohmann - He is an attorney. He gives a perspective similar to Yochai and Howard in which he talks about how new technology has been met with legal ramifications.

4. Howard Rheingold - He talks about the history of media, and its resilience to change. He discusses how has new technology has been introduced, Hollywood and the like have been resistant to adapt or include it. They end up trying to ban said technology, or give it a negative connotation.

5.Dan Glickman - He is the chairman of the MPAA, and discusses how media companies know that piracy cannot be stopped. However, they attempt to make it as difficult as possible. Glickman gives the perspective of the other side of the coin, in which piracy is not looked at in such a positive light.






Name, and define, 3 significant people interviewed in the movie (KNOWLEDGE):

1. Rick Prelinger - He runs a website of free movies called Prelinger Archives, that are available to anyone who visits his site. The goal is to preserve films of historic significance.

2. Sebastian Lutgert - He discusses his views on piracy from the point of view of a film maker, someone who creates these works of art that are being disturbed through peer to peer sharing.

3. Lawrence Liang - He is part of the Alternative Law Forum, and gives background into the social and legal implications of modern day piracy.




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 idea being discussed within this film is that the sharing of information has existed since the dawn of man. Along with that, the desire to stop the sharing of information has existed since the dawn of man. Printing presses, cable television, sheet music, the video recorder once all had the negative connotations that peer to peer file sharing websites and methods have today. Over time, however, Hollywood and the like have learned to adapt to these new media types and embrace them. Baase discusses the issues of industry and legislation trying to adapt to new technologies and methods of sharing in section 4.2 (p. 204, Baase, 2008). Baase discusses the hardships that both people who try to share information and those who owned intellectual property had endured.


What is BitTorrent? Explain what it does and how this technologic advancement had changed society. (COMPREHENSION)

BitTorrent is a peer to peer client, where you can upload and download files by connecting to another person (or seed). When you download a torrent file from a website like pirate bay, you connect to another peer (or variety of peers) to receive the end file that you desire. These files can be anything from software to television shows. After you have downloaded that file, you are then a peer for someone else who is trying to download said file. It has changed our society by allowing anyone with an Internet connection the ability to download a wide variety of media at the click of a mouse. While this has positive ramifications(an independent artist can put out his/her new album, or an software designer can show off a new program they have built), there are negative ones. People take copyrighted material and put it on peer to peer networks, allowing others to have media or software they have not paid for.

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)?

Growing up in this early stages of the Information Age, I watched my brother utilize Napster right as it came out. Developing and early interest in technology and file sharing, I was using Kazaa, Bearshare, Morpheus and torrrenting/vpn client programs to obtain music and movies. However, anything I downloaded (in terms of music) would be bands that I have paid to see live or have bought a t-shirt of. Eventually I bought most of the music I have downloaded to support the artists I had grown to love. What file sharing had done for me is expose me to a variety of artists that would inevitably impact the rest of my life. It also allowed me to try out different artists before deciding whether it was worth my purchase. It was nice to see that online media retailers utilized this type of strategy, such as iTunes, which allows a preview of an album or song before you buy it. Baase touches on the innovations made by companies like this and how they took advantage of digital online marketplaces for media (p.224, Baase 2008).



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 Intellectually Property in the Information Age? ? (ANALYSIS)

I think that the future of media is right before our eyes. A popular band named Radiohead distributed their second last album "In Rainbows" on their website before it hit retailers. They offered their fans the option to pay whatever they wanted to buy the album. Instead of putting in stores, they offered their fans or consumers the option to pay what they wanted to. I think things like this are the future for all types of media. Its turned away from the producers and has focused on the consumers. Musicians and artists publicly announce that their fans should download their works for free because they just want them to hear the new music they have been creating. It is moving away from large record labels and towards artists taking independent control. As Baase discusses in 4.3, large companies are applying a digital approach to selling and distributing media. Baase talks about how iTunes and Amazon have now started to offer digital services that piggyback off the idea of digitally consuming media (p.224, Baase 2008).


Do you think that downloading is stealing someone’s Intellectual Property? Why or why not? Back up with Baase (ANALYSIS)?

I don't believe it is. As Baase states in 4.1, "The key to understanding intellectual-property protection is to understand that the thing protected is the intangible creative work- not its particular physical form." Downloading someones album or movie isn't to change or copy the plots or ideas or musical notations, its to share that form of someones intellectual property.



How do you see issues of copyright and Intellectual property effecting the world 50 years from today? BE SPECIFIC (SYNTHESIS)

I don’t think people will pay for the end product of Intellectual property in 50 years, but they may pay for people to make new media and distribute it. I offer an example posed by the website Kickstarter. A game development company put out a Kickstarter campaign, which is essentially a donation website in which you can contribute to a variety of projects. Each project has to meet a set goal before it charges the people who donate, so the project can move forward. The game company, Harebrained Scheme, put out a request for $400,000 to build a sequel to their game Shadowrun. They reached this goal within 28 hours (Link to article: http://www.develop-online.net/news/40435/Shadowrun-Returns-on-Kickstarter). If you browse through Kickstarter projects, you’ll find a variety of musicians, movie makers, authors and so on who have started up projects to make new media. Perhaps this will be the way of the future; you pay for the types of media you want to see created. I think people 50 years from now will still share media and “pirate.” However, I think people will continue to financially support media outlets in the ways listed above.


Do you agree with what is being said within movie? Explain. (EVALUATION)

I do agree with what is being said in this movie. Creation of media is not strictly about financial goals or gains. Meeting a variety of musicians and going to a variety of concerts, I have heard a very similar statement repeated over and over again. That statement is, “I don’t care how you obtain our albums/recordings, but listen to us and download our whole discography!” Now while this may not be the case for every musician out there, it is for a decent amount. Being a musician myself and having had put out several albums, I could care less if people pay for it. But if people enjoy it and share it with all their friends, that is something to be celebrated. With that, even the MPAA knows that piracy cannot be stopped. Humans will always find a way to share information.


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 opinion has been reinforced that media is not always about a profitable gain, but rather the desire to spread media. Culture, in regards to media, needs to celebrate its creation. By passing this media along, more people are involved and more people are connected. When I show a friend a song I like, or a movie I enjoy, it is because I want them to share that same experience of enjoyment and approval. Copying material isn’t out of the desire to avoid payment, it’s the desire to share, enjoy and connect to culture. I had never thought of connecting modern day piracy to that of the creation of sheet music or the print press. After the explanations of these comparisons I know have a greater understanding of how the idea behind piracy or copying of intellectual property is something that has existed before the dawn of computers.