It's free and fast, but very wrong

Chai Mei Ling
New Straits Times
01-23-2011
It's free and fast, but very wrong
Byline: Chai Mei Ling
Edition: New Sunday Times
Section: Main Section
Column: Sunday spotlight

KUALA LUMPUR: The Internet, once a bankable marketing silver bullet for the film and music industry, is now a formidable foe.

Rampant online file sharing has cut deep into the pockets of businesses, industry players say, causing them to suffer losses running into millions of ringgit.
"Consumers worldwide are embracing digital media and changing the way they access entertainment. As a result, new technology has played a role in reducing the sales of optical discs," says Tan Ngiap Foo, chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM).

The music industry is reportedly losing RM100 million a year to mobile phone shops selling illegally downloaded ringtones.

Similarly, the sale of local and international CDs and cassettes has been severely affected. In 1996, sales stood at RM315 million, but hit rock bottom three years ago at RM58 million.

In 1997, King of Pop Michael Jackson's album sales gave the figure a slight boost, but at RM71 million, it was still a far cry from the golden era of the 1990s.

Much of the decline in the early years was due to CD piracy, but the Internet has now become a far more serious threat, says artiste and RIM chairman Norman Abdul Halim.

He says Internet penetration in the country has gone up considerably, and the availability of high speed broadband has allowed Malaysians to download better quality contents faster.

"Digital technology creates opportunities, but can become a threat if it's uncontrolled."

The downloading of literary, musical or artistic works online without permission is an infringement of the Copyright Act 1987.

Lawmakers and industry players may label online piracy immoral and unlawful, but file sharing proponents described it as a phenomenon driven by "economics" and guided by "common sense".

One of them, Ramlee*, 33, reasoned: "If it's free, fast and easy - why not?"

Over the years, the Subang-based IT consultant has downloaded over 100 gigabyte of materials - including e-books, comics, market studies, hundreds of movies and thousands of songs - from various file-sharing systems, website forums and blogs.

"On a dollar-to-dollar comparison, CDs and DVDs are much cheaper in the United States than Malaysia. Original CDs are so expensive here. That's why people resort to downloading songs and movies online," he says.

Interior designer Cheng*, 40, concurs that prices make all the difference.

The father of four says an average cinema outing for the family will cost him at least RM150.

"Paying for movie tickets, fuel, parking charges, popcorn and drinks can be quite hard on the pocket for a big family. How often can we frequent the cinema when it's so expensive?"

For Ija*, a fan of US TV shows like Chuck and House, getting entertainment contents online has a huge advantage - the borderless world of the Internet facilitates an almost instantaneous transfer, by industry standards.

A show aired at night in New York would be posted online two hours later, and within half an hour of downloading, Ija would be able to watch the same episode.

"I haven't watched local TV networks for years because the series shown are so outdated."

The 36-year-old from the media IT sector, who started downloading contents more than 10 years ago, now has in his collection one tetrabyte worth of TV shows, movies and MP3s.

Security software firm Symantec Asia Pacific recently revealed that more than a third of Malaysian respondents of a survey think that it is "morally acceptable" to download a single music track, album or movie without paying.

However, the number of Malaysians who download online materials could well be higher, as there are net users who are aware that the act is illegal and unacceptable but proceed to do it anyway.

Chemical engineering student Josh*, 23, who watches movies through streaming media and downloads multiplayer computer games, says: "I know it's illegal. But since everyone is doing it, why not? Plus, movie studios make billions of dollars a year."

The self-professed supporter of local music, however, says he buys original CDs when it comes to local bands.

Kuala Lumpur-based Lee*, 23, cites convenience as online downloading's biggest draw. The law student says technology has made the transfer of content materials compatible and almost seamless.

"You can convert a song on Youtube into MP3 and then save it to your phone and music player like iPod. You can also store hundreds of songs in your thumb drive and listen to them on your computer or while you're driving.

"Conversely, if you buy a CD, it can only be played on a CD player. In this day and age, convenience matters a lot."

(* not his/her real name)

Three strikes, and you are out

WILL the days of online piracy soon be numbered?

After years of lobbying from the entertainment industry, last year the government proposed amending the Copyright Act 1987 to address Internet piracy.

The ISP Liablity Act, if passed, would give Internet service providers the power to control their bandwidth.

The Recording Industry Association of Malaysia (RIM) in particular has called for and support the "three-strikes" rule - that is, an accidental or deliberate infringer will be given three warning notices prior to their Internet connection being suspended, and eventually, terminated, if they are repeat infringers.

In Asia, Korea and Taiwan passed the "three-strikes" law in 2009.

"There is definitely a need for law and order. We can't go on good faith because it doesn't work," says Norman Abdul Halim, president and group CEO of KRU Studios.

On calls from consumers to lower the prices of CDs as a means to curb piracy, RIM chief executive officer Tan Ngiap Foo says the suggestion is "most ridiculous".

"Why is this suggestion to reduce prices only made to the music industry when costs are going up all around? The bottom line is that no matter how cheap music is sold, the pirate will always be able to sell cheaper - he doesn't pay the composers, lyricists, publishers, and for studios and equipment.

"Anyone holding this view is in fact supporting daylight robbery. It's akin to saying that a person deserves to be robbed because he lives in a nice house and drives a big car."

Norman says the problem lies in the mentality of consumers, and not in price.

"Consumers download for free. How can the music industry fight with free?

"Consumers have to be responsible when using the Net. They have to understand that content is a property, and its use cannot be violated."

Free downloads can open yourself up to cybercrime

MANY Malaysians think it is "morally acceptable" to download music and movies for free from the Internet, a report has revealed.

According to the report released by Symantec Asia Pacific recently, 36 per cent of Malaysians think it is okay to download a single music track, album or movie without paying.

Twenty per cent believe it is acceptable to secretly view someone else's browser history files and 12 per cent believe it is okay to check other people's emails.

These behaviours, such as downloading files, are worrying. Not only are such downloads illegal, it exposes people to security threats as cyber criminals lurk in places where people download illegal content and make use of these channels to distribute malware.

Cyber criminals raked in an average US$2,270 (RM7,300) from local Internet users, the report revealed.

With 83 per cent of Internet users falling for cybercrimes, the final amount could be higher, says its regional consumer product marketing manager David Hall.

"Cybercrimes have evolved and criminals are more organised, moving underground. They are faceless and they can be operating from any part of the world as the cyber world is borderless.

"Besides the monetary loss, becoming a victim of cybercrime can have a profound psychological effect, similar to losing a loved one. Victims are angry and embarrassed with what had happened to them," he adds.

"Many suffer in silence but there are those who take action by reporting the matter to the authorities," he says, quoting the report based on a methodology study conducted in the first quarter of last year.

Cybercrimes include computer viruses, online credit card fraud and identity theft, normally as a result of apathy on the part of consumers. This leaves them vulnerable and exposed in the online world.

"This is a silent digital epidemic and trying to solve cybercrime can be highly frustrating. For every cyber criminal caught, a large number go scot free.

The report from the security software maker also shows that though one in three Malaysians blames the criminals behind the cybercrime, one-third of Malaysians feel "highly responsible" for the cybercrime activities as they respond to online scams and phishing attacks.

"To be safe and protect yourself, Internet users should never give out personal information online. Never ever put too much information online.

"Some 78 per cent of Malaysian online users think that is okay to do so without realising that they can never restore or correct negative online reputation, while 22 per cent feels that it is bad to do so," says Hall.

He adds that people should realise that once the information is available online, it is difficult to take it down.

"Having said that, never be afraid of the Internet because it is a great place to learn things as it has so much information to offer. But be wise and protect yourself by changing your password regularly.

"Internet users can fight back and take control of things because you have the power to do so."

The Norton Cybercrime Report - Human Impact was conducted in Malaysia and other Asean countries in April last year.

Some 452 Internet users from the age of 18 were interviewed in the online survey.

The study was also conducted globally where 7,066 Internet users in 14 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, France, Germany, the United States and England, were interviewed.

(Copyright 2011)