Major Lawsuits against File-sharing....Should we be Paranoid?

In these days, file-sharing seems to be as simple as looking and clicking. There are many different sites which enable internet users to share music, picture, video, and application files and programs. But isn't it illegal to share files that are copyrighted as known by the infamous Napster case many years ago? The answer is "Yes," and although there were around 26,000 legal cases from the IRAA, these Digital "Pirates" continue to use programs for downloading bootleg movies, music, and programs. Some sites improvise with some messages stating that "You are not anonymous," "We have you IP Address," and "You will go to jail for sharing." Although these things may happen if caught, it's also an attempt to scare the users so that they would keep sharing at a minimum. In the case this year 2007, Jammie Thomas was fined an outstanding amount of $222,000 for the music she downloaded illegally. And in 2005, Scott McCausland was sent to jail by downloading a movie before it was released. These cases are probably the sacrifice so that the general public would be scared into not sharing.
There would be no possible way to track the thousands, if not millions, of people who share files and throw each and everyone one of them into jail. Time and Technology have funny ways of adapting to the will of our ever-changing society. Or is it the people who have no care in the worl when they hit that download button? Whichever the case may be, It is highly unlikely that people will stop sharing any type of files. Is it even fair for the high cost of the media to be cast upon its customers? Common Sense; why would one pay for something that they don't have to? That's why it's called "sharing," not "stealing."

More GPhones, More Innovation

The new Google Phone, or GPhone, is said to be coming out early 2008. But the question isn't what kind of Phone will it be, but rather how many GPhones will there be. Erick Shonfeld stated that Google is thinking bigger, because instead of having a single Google cellphone, why not have many GPhones in which the maker can introduce its own specialty features, such as one for outstanding GPS system with maps, and another for Youtube with an amazing camera system inside. At the same time, both working around the GPhone platform but prided by different makers. Another positive thing to note would be the non-locking of the Gphone itself. Usually many phones are locked to cetain features depending on the servince provider and must be unlocked or may not even be usable with other carriers. This gives the chance for more innovation for applications in the future.

I'd say it's a step forward for telecommunication and personal media technology. It just shows that one of the top internet companies are not spending their money on nothing. A push forward not only for tech-heads, but also for the general public as well.