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The Ethics of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Valerie L. Patterson Development Team Reviewed 1/08 Click Here for Lesson Plans
	Introduction Peer-to-peer file-sharing (P2P), the process of making files available to others to download over the Internet and other networks continues to be a popular method for securing music even though the media has recently publicized court cases filed by recording industry organizations. Evangelista (2005) points to attempts made by the recording and movie industries to counter and stem the tide of file sharing “by filing about 10,000 lawsuits against users and initiating education campaigns,” but even with these initiatives the online activity remains “alive and well”. View More
	Key Concepts and Vocabulary • Artist’s Rights • Intellectual Property • Illegal File Sharing • Peer to peer networks and applications • Ethical dilemmas and value conflicts • Ethical relativism • Federal legislation targeting copyright and intellectual property rights • The Victimless Crime Argument • Ethics and decision-making • Piracy Deterrence and Education Act (PDEA) of 2004 • The Artists’ Rights and Theft Prevention Act of 2004 • The Author, Consumer, and Computer Owner Protection and Security Act (HR 2752) • The Digital Millennium Copyright Act • U.S. Copyright Law • Recording Industry Association of America View More
	Background for for Teachers The ethical implications of peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) center around the concepts of intellectual property. The legal implications relate to the issue of copyright law. Even though the practice of peer-to-peer file sharing has legal and ethical implications, it continues to be an everyday practice for many individuals, especially young adults. A study completed by the Pew Internet Project (Madden and Lenhart, 2003) determined that “young adults continue to dominate downloading.” The study found that “students are also more likely to be music down-loaders than non students with fifty-six percent of full-time students reporting that they download music to their computers. Delgado (2004) asserts that “an estimated 70 million people engage in online file sharing” and that much of it is “illegal.” Some suggest that teenagers and others have “employed every rationalization in the book to justify getting their favorite music for free” (Ethics Scoreboard, 2004). Ultimately, it is argued that illegal downloading and file-sharing will persist because “it will be hard to convince people that POPing (personal online pirating) is uncommon when the vast majority of their peers engage in it” (Hyman and Shanahan, 2006).   View More

	Core Subject Areas and Grade Level		Description of Classroom Activities
	Objectives from Competency-Based Curriculum		Assessment for Activities
	Correlations to Language Art Benchmarks (Sunshine State Standards)		Extension Activity
	Core Values Emphasized in this Learning Module		Bibliography and Web Resources
	Suggested Time for Instruction

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