MA MEDIA PRODUCTION
M36CMC – INFORMATION SOCIETIES

PIRACY IN NIGERIA

The piracy situation in Nigeria worsened in 2008, with high quality counterfeit/pirated optical discs being sourced either to plants in the country or to imports, in either case indicative of a highly-organised criminal operation.

Trade losses and levels of piracy in Nigeria have traditionally is very high. Evidence suggests that Chinese and Southeast Asian pirate gangs have infiltrated Nigeria and set up more than a dozen optical disc operations, some reported to have mastering facilities.

The music industry has long been an easy target, demoralising local Nigerian and international music markets.

These pirates have advanced, counterfeiting sophisticated and expensive software packages that include hacks or cracks to authenticate the products on users’ machines.

The promising but growing Internet presence and a toxic brew of mainly physical, but some digital, piracy has collectively destroyed the legitimate market in Nigeria for copyright. In the United States right holders feel the damage of piracy  but Nigerian creators feel it much more.

Upon the enactment of the Copyright (Optical Disc Plants) Regulation 2006, Eddie Ugbomeh, a Nigerian actor and film producer said,

“I no longer release videos or DVDs into the Nigerian market … The last time I released VCDs to video rental outlets across the country, they never gave me any returns. In Port Harcourt, Rivers state, these rental operators even threaten to kill me if I come for my money. Same thing at Warri, Delta state. So I’ve made up my mind not to release VCDs in the present circumstances.”

Nigeria remains a country overrun with pirate materials, stunting the growth of any legitimate industry. Pirate CD-Rs containing copyright materials, for example, compilations of up to 300 songs by local and international artists, or popular business software titles, sell for less than the equivalent of $1  in the local market.

Software piracy has significantly worsened in the past twelve months due to lack of enforcement. Disturbingly, perfect counterfeits, including counterfeit authenticity seals/holograms of popular business software packages have appeared in Nigeria, providing further evidence of highly sophisticated collective activity in the country.

Book piracy continues to be a serious problem, partially due to the Nigerian government’s decision in 2003 to cut funding for university and library purchases. This decision has created an environment encouraging illegal photocopying, thereby plaguing the academic market.

Furthermore, Nigeria has for years been a destination for pirate book imports, primarily from Asia, China and Malaysia.

The relative success of Nollywood, Nigeria’s home video industry and local music market is a surprise despite the piracy situation.

Piracy has caused Nigerian local film and music producers to suffer huge losses, meaning that musicians still depend heavily on concerts and “road shows” to capitalise their popularity and make up for insufficient  amounts they collect in royalties from CD sales.

Copyright protection in Nigeria is governed by the Copyright Act (Cap 68 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 1990) as amended. The law, while by no means perfect, provides a solid basis for enforcing copyright and combating piracy.

References

WIPPOMAGAZINE (2008) STRAP and CLAMP – Nigeria Copyright

                        Commission in Action [online] available from

                            <http:www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2008

                           /05/article_0009.htm1> [18 March 2009] 

International Intellectual Property Alliance (2009) Nigeria: International

                         Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) 2009 Special

                         301 Report on Copyright Protection and Enforcement

                         [online] available from < http://72.30.186.56/

                        search/cache?ei=UTF-8&p=piracy+in+nigeria

                         &rd=r1&fr=yfp-t-501&u=www.iipa.com/rbc/

                         2009/2009SPEC301NIGERIA.pdf&w=piracy

                         +nigeria&rd=EAQ2HJ2uSagU&icp=1&.intl=uk>

BY

OLUBUKUNOLA AROBIEKE

MA MEDIA PRODUCTION
M36CMC – INFORMATION SOCIETIES

Second Life is a three-dimensional virtual community created entirely by its membership. It is a virtual world with a resident population of millions of real people from around the world. Members assume an identity and take up residence in Second Life, creating a customised avatar or personage to represent themselves. The avatar moves about in the virtual world using a mouse control and intuitive keyboard buttons.

Second Life is a free online virtual world imagined and created by its residents. From the moment you enter Second Life, one would discover a fast-growing digital world filled with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity.

To become a resident, one would need to download the Second Life viewer. Once installed, you would be able to walk, “teleport” or even fly to thousands of exciting 3D locations. You could also use voice and text chat to communicate with other real people from around the world.

Second Life’s virtual world also includes sounding such as wind in the swaying trees, babbling brooks, audible conversation, built-in chat and instant messaging. Residents buy property, start businesses, game with other residents, create objects, join clubs, attend classes, or just hang out.

In 2006, over 3,000 Second Life residents reportedly made an excess of $20,000 (USD) per year running businesses in Second Life. Most of them sell objects they’ve created that other residents want.

One Second Life resident appeared on a Business Week cover story for earning a three-figure income (that’s real world dollars) for selling virtual real estate.

Properties purchased in Second Life are owned by the buyer using a scheme referred to as Internet Protocol (IP) copyright.

Some owners reward members for staying at their property with Linden dollars (Second Life currency). Linden dollars can also be purchased with real dollars using a credit card. Part of the exchange rate goes to Linden Inc., with Second Life allegedly generating over 64 million dollars a year.

Real world corporations are also taking interest in the virtual world.

In September 2006, Popular Science reported that Wells Fargo Bank bought an island on Second Life, where they may one day offer real world banking.

Wal-Mart and Intel are just two of the mega-giants considering corporate training classes in Second Life – a business model that could save corporations, both big and small, millions of dollars in travel and lodging fees.

Future possibilities include virtual universities that replicate their real-life counterparts with classrooms and professors teaching interactive classes in real time, virtual interactive congressional sessions, and three-dimensional customer and tech support.

Second Life is the innovation of Philip Rosedale, the former Real Networks guru credited with spearheading the development of online streaming technologies.

Philip Rosedale presently runs Linden Labs, Inc., the privately held company behind Second Life, with the help of a crack team of first-class developers who have previous experience with companies such as Disney, THQ and Mattel.

Anyone over 13 years of age can open a free account at Second Life, though members between 13 and 18 participate in Teen Second Life, seperate virtual community.

Within the adult version of Second Life, there are PG areas and adult areas where different modes of behaviour are acceptable.

According to the terms of service contract, harassment of any kind in Second Life results in permanent expulsion from the community.

Second Life is a disciplined community that has a zero tolerance behaviour approach. Every resident is treated with respect and unacceptable behaviours dealt with.

References

Linden Research Inc. (2009) What Is Second Life?  [online]

           available from < http://secondlife.com/whatis/ >

           [21 February 2009]

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS (ISPs) AND LAWS ABOUT

FILE-SHARING

BY

OLUBUKUNOLA AROBIEKE

MA MEDIA PRODUCTION
M36CMC – INFORMATION SOCIETIES

The full form of ISP is ‘Internet Service Provider’. ISP is a form of business organisation that sells access to Internet to consumers. Initially most ISP organisations were run by telephone companies.

Today, ISP services can be started by an individual who has sufficient funds and expertise. Apart from providing Internet access through a variety of technologies such as dial-up and DSL, they can also provide other services such as Internet transit, domain name registration, web hosting and collocation.

An ISP is also sometimes referred to as an IAP (Internet access provider). ISP is sometimes used as an abbreviation for Independent Service Provider to distinguish a service provider that is an independent, separate company from a telephone company.

ISPs use a wide range of technologies to allow consumers to connect to their network. For example, for home consumers the most common services available are dial-up, DSL, broadband wireless access, cable modem and ISDN. Customers who have higher or more demanding requirements are connected to DSL, Ethernet, Metro Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet internet lines depending upon their usage and speed requirement.

The government is to establish a legislation forcing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to gather information on customers engaging in illegal file-sharing, and forcing them to contact repeat offenders warning them that such behaviour is against the law.

As part of an interim report, Digital Britain, the proposed legislation requested ISPs to collect anonymised information on serious repeat infringers (derived from their notification activities) and to be made available to rights-holders together with personal details on receipt of a court order.

 
The government said that it would soon begin consultation on the proposed new law.

The new law is expected to provide a good evidence base, making it significantly easier for right-holders to take targeted legal action against the most significant infringers.

 
The law would create a code on unlawful file-sharing which ISPs would have to sign, and whose enforcement would be carried out by media and telecoms regulators.

The government would also create new rights agency, which would gather together content creators in different disciplines and encourage them to find ways to prevent piracy and ways to make the legal use of their content more attractive. It would involve creators from the worlds of music, film, television, computer games and software.

 
The report further explained that the Digital Britain group would look into whether public subsidies should be used to help extend next-generation broadband networks, and that the government was committed to ensuring that broadband penetration reached the whole of the United Kingdom by 2012.

References

Masons, P. (2009) Law Will Force ISPs to Pass File-Sharing

            Data to Record Labels [online]available from

            < http://www.out-law.com/page-9750>

            [17 February 2009]

Techtarget (2006) What is ISP? [online] available from

           < http://searchwindevelopment.techtarget.com/s

           Definition/0,,sid8_gci214028,00.html>

           [17 February 2009]

BY

OLUBUKUNOLA AROBIEKE

MA MEDIA PRODUCTION
M36CMC – INFORMATION SOCIETIES

Task

Making use of specific examples and appropriate theoretical and conceptual resources, respond by using textual, image-based and other means, to one of the following claims/assertion:-

• the role of the nation state will change dramatically and there will be no more room for nationalism than there is for smallpox.

(Negroponte 1996 Being Digital, London: Hodder & Stoughton: 236)

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 – What is a Nation
1.1 – What is a State
1.2 – The Nation State

CHAPTER TWO: THE NATION STATE AND NATIONALISM
2.0 – The Role of the Nation State
2.1 – Nationalism

CHAPTER THREE: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
3.0 – The Future of Nation States
3.1 – National Development through the Nation State

References

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1.0 – What is a Nation
The roots of a nation are to be found in kinship. A nation grows by a process of differentiation and opposition. A nation is not simply a cultural togetherness or an ethnic group, neither is it an economic togetherness but also a political togetherness. It is a political togetherness concerned both with the structure and the exercise of power. A nation co-exists together with other nations. And because other nations exist, they complement one another.

A nation is a togetherness which gives expression to the shared aspirations of the people for equality and freedom, to establish, nurture and maintain the institutions necessary for that purpose (Mill1872 cited in Tamilnation 2007).

1.1 – What is a State
A state is a legal and political organisation, with the power to require obedience and loyalty from its citizens. A state is a community of people, whose members are bound together by a sense of solidarity, a common culture and national consciousness.

“…states can exist without a nation, or with several nations, among their subjects, and a nation can be coterminous with the population of one state, or be included together with other nations within one state, or be divided between several states. There were states long before nations, and there are some nations that are much older than most states which exist today. The belief that every state is a nation, or that all sovereign states are national states, has done much to obfuscate human understanding of political realities (Methuen 1977 cited in Tamilnation 2007)”.

1.2 – The Nation State
A nation state is commonly viewed as a ‘country,’ a ‘nation’ or a ‘state.’ But technically, it is a specific form of sovereign state, a political entity on a territory that governs a nation and derives its legitimacy from successfully serving all its citizens. In the nation state, generally, everyone would speak the same language, probably practice the same or similar types of religion, and share a set of cultural, ‘national’ values. Although citizens share the same border and territory, in the sense of the nation state, one does not share a common nationality (Ellis-Christensen 2008 cited in Wisegeek 2008).

Information in some form has existed and has been highly valued in every age. Where people think about issues is more likely to be in terms of democratic or totalitarian societies, or societies characterised by affluence, poverty or unemployment, rather than by information (Martin 1978).

Special attention must be given to the role of the nation state in the making of the modern world and in the expansion of surveillance (Giddens 1985). An equation of ‘society’ and ‘nation states’ may be satisfactory for everyday conversations and even for a good deal of sociology. However, it must be acknowledged that the nation state is a particular kind of society, one created very recently in world history. The nation state is not a ‘society’, but a particular kind of society that has distinctive characteristics (Anderson 1991).

CHAPTER TWO
THE NATION STATE AND NATIONALISM

2.0 – The Role of the Nation State
The state as an entity has form and structure. There is a universal, bureaucratic structure to the administrative arm of the state. Achieving a sense of common nationality and a sense of community with the rest of the people living in the state means involving the maximum number of citizens in the governance process.

For example, the United States and Canada with similar heritage have organised their representative governance process quite differently. The Constitution of the United States and the experience of the Civil War have restricted state governments to affairs within their borders. Under the Canadian Constitution provinces, their participation in national governance is restricted.

The state also has an intangible factor. As Ortega Gasset said, it begins as a work of imagination offering people something they have not previously had. Prior to having a form, a state has a goal, a direction. With popular acceptance of a direction, a state becomes the will to do something in common. When this goal or direction loses its appeal or can no longer be achieved, the state loses its unity and momentum.

John Breuilly traced the expansion of authority to the hands of the state in Europe, and stated that the process of concentrating authority in the state produced the political concept of the nation. He proceeded to use the two terms interchangeably. He further distinguished nationalism as arising out of a minority movement tied to characteristics such as ethnicity, religion or language, as well as nationalism being used by the state to promote a sense of national identity. Ultimately, he said nationalism is a form of politics.

Realism is an approach to the study and practice of international politics. It emphasises the role of the nation state and makes a broad assumption that all nation states are motivated by national interest disguised as moral concerns (Lauletta 1996 cited in Towson 1996).

The national interest must be defined in terms of power. National power has an absolute meaning since it can be defined in terms of military, economic, political, diplomatic, or cultural resources.

At its most fundamental level, the national interest is generic and easy to define. All states seek to preserve their political autonomy and their territorial integrity. Once these two interests have been secured, however, national interests may take different forms. Some states may have an interest in securing more resources or land, other states may wish to expand their own political or economic systems into other areas and some states may merely wish to be left alone (Lauletta 1996 cited in Towson 1996).

2.1 – Nationalism
Nationalism is a sense of identity with the nation. It is similar to tribalism, and like the family, is held together by a sense of kinship.

Nationalism is an image of a social order involving the people as a sovereign elite and a community of equals. The original use of the term nationalism refers to elite groups, but in modern times, it refers usually to a very large group, sometimes as large as an empire.

Nationalism may be collectivistic or individualistic depending upon whether or not the community or the individual is considered to be more important. A collectivistic nationalism tends to be authoritarian. An individualistic nationalism tends to be liberal.

Also, nationalism may be either ethnic or civic. Ethnic nationalism must also be collectivistic because it is based upon blood or race or ethnic group. Civic nationalism is usually individualistic, but it can also be collectivistic (Greenfield n.d cited in Talmination 2007).

England and the United States are examples of civic, individualistic nationalisms. France is an example of a civic, collectivistic nationalism. Germany and Russia are examples of ethnic, collectivistic nationalisms.

CHAPTER THREE
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

3.0 – The Future of Nation States
A nation is more than the state. It consists of the apparatus of the state, the people and their culture in all of its diversity, and their state of mind. John Breully does not include culture in his definition of nationalism because he feels it unnecessarily complicates the issue. His state of mind is stocked only with political issues. While politics can be stretched, people’s thoughts and actions about the nation do involve more than political issues.

A nation, then, is as much a set of ideas, beliefs and expectations as it is a geographic entity and a structure of governance. These ideas and beliefs, rooted in the past, and giving direction to present activity, also gives rise to expectation for the future. From Ortega Gasset’s point of view, to have common glories in the past, a common will in the present, to have done great things together, and to wish to do greater are the essential conditions which make up a people.

Since state and nation are not the same, logically the state does exist separately from the people but not from the nation. Modern political philosophy takes for granted that authority flows from the people. The fact of the state as a bureaucratic entity whose civil servants are appointed and judged on technical qualifications is a challenge to the idea that the people and their government are indistinguishable. The immediate response to this concept of bureaucratic monopoly of authority is that the elected representatives of the people exercise the delegated authority of the people in controlling the civil servants. For this situation to become a reality, the ‘General Will’ of the people must be evident.

However, continuous study shows that it reveals a myriad of interests based on individual affiliation with intermediate groups. While these groups are subordinate to the modern state, they work through combination and lobbying to influence the direction of state policies.

In addition, the elected representatives of the people come to office with agendas of their own for which they seek allies among interest groups and the state bureaucracy. Therefore, the state stands out as the organised entity asserting that it embodies the nation and serves as an advocate for the people (Kidd 2000 cited in Boswell 2000).

A state is absolute when it claims the right to a monopoly of all the force within the community, to make war, to make peace, to conscript life, to tax, to establish and disestablish property, to define crime, to punish disobedience, to control education, to supervise the family, to regulate personal habits, and to censor opinions (Lippmann 1929 cited in Boswell 2000).

These statements revel that the state is much different from being the repository of the ‘General Will’, much more than an advocate for the people, and much less than the nation.

3.1 – National Development through the Nation State
The elements of national development appear to be common to relevant processes, but adapt themselves to different circumstances. As Sorokin noted in this regard, by process means any kind of movement, or modification, or transformation, or alteration, or ‘evolution’. In other words, any change of a given logical subject in the course of time, whether it is a change in its place, in space or a modification of its quantitative or qualitative aspects. This definition applies to the terms ‘state’ and ‘nation’ as they have taken on different meanings through history.

All of the activities of modern nation states in promoting national development fall under the four categories, namely:
• producing an economic surplus,
• promoting social and cultural integration,
• governance, and
• education.

References

Anderson, B. (1991) Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread

             of Nationalism. Verso: 2nd edition

Boswell, J. (2000) The Role of National Development in Determining the Policy and

           Structure of Education [online] available from [7 March 2008]

Giddens, A. (1985) The Nation State and Violence: Volume Two of a

           Contemporary Critique of Historical Materialism. Cambridge: Polity

Tamilnation (2007) What is a Nation [online] available from [7 March 2008]

Towson (1996) Political Realism [online] available from [7 March 2008]

Wisegeek (2008) What is a Nation-State [online] available from [7 March 2008]

People started getting together and exploring the idea that there was going to be a revolution in technology which was going to change society drastically (Wozniak 1986 cited in Heap, Thomas et al 1995).

Success in just about any field has become impossible without information technology. In all economic sectors, it is apparently set to change everything that human beings do in advanced societies.

Individuals perceive such revolution from acquisition of personal computers, direct broadcasting by satellite, automated work or in the potential for push-button democracy. While differing over details, though many seem to agree that bringing together computing with telecommunications spells the start of a new age.

Initiation in the processes of information handling, transmission, storage and retrieval is the key to future prosperity and to qualitatively different ways of life. Failure to proceed in this direction carries dire consequences.

Modern information technologies bring great benefits but yet pose great problems. The benefits and problems are not new. It provides a sense of mixed blessings both pleasure and dismay.

What is of significance today is that information technologies have been and would continue to be powerful that their benefits and problems are unprecedented, involving us all on a global scale.

Information technology is seen to strengthen a great variety of communities of interest. Improved technology allows formation of many new, smaller communities of interest, and also allows existing, larger communities of interest power to attain a transnational character.

The high motivation of common interests, combined with ease of communication, allows such communities of interest and existing larger communities of interest the motivation to be extremely flexible and productive, thereby contributing more to scientific, technological and artistic progress in a greater number of areas than formal or governmental organisations do.

New electronic data bases provide selective access to the specific information that people need. Information technologies increasingly support service industries and contribute to the improvement of the quality of service. These technologies create enormous job opportunities in the area of software development and production. Information technologies make life more convenient and efficient by permitting people to oppose manual labour by promoting security and by providing everyday conveniences.

However, problems which have been and will be created by information technologies are multi-fold. Significant differences already exist in the amount of information available in different regions, and these differences could increase. In information-rich regions, the information supply is much larger than could be possibly consumed, yet in these regions, people have difficulty in obtaining precisely the information they need.

Some governments in the information-poor regions may be weary of new information and reluctant to promote certain types of communities of interest, despite the fact that remote access to information-rich regions can be made by means of low-cost terminals.

Information technology has promoted the dissemination of information but with the existence of economic, political, religious, ideological, educational and other factors, there are large differences among regions in the amount of information available.

The emergence of the internet as a communication and social interaction tool was initially met with great hopes for revitalising the flattering sense of community. However, the disadvantage to internet interaction and “virtual” social connections between people who may never meet in person becomes a social liability.

The greatest fear is that online social ties would substitute for real social bonds. The more we connect online, the more we abandon our neighbours and families, preferring online relationships for their greater degree of freedom. The online environment thereby becomes a change from people to technology.

“Cyberspace” is termed as a virtual reality, one regarded to designate the “substance” of the three-dimensional space protected by the computer as bits of information, rather than a physical territory.

Cyberspace is known to bring possibilities of connectivity and openness. It is a force in its own right, the uncanny autonomy of which threatens the sovereignty of the human race if not used with caution.

References

Heap, N., Thomas, R., Einon, G., Manson, R. And Mackay, H.

              (1995) (ed.) Information Technology and Society.

               London: Sage Publications

Inose, H. And Pierce, J. (1984) Information Technology and

             Civilisation. New York: Freeman

Ryan, M. (1999) (ed.) Cyberspace Textuality.

             USA: Indiana University Press