Critical Reflection

The Role of Peer and Tutor Feedback

Feedback and discussion over language use was done both informally and formally. Class and group discussions with group mates over each other’s writings were done in class and online in the form of blog comments. We would discuss about each other’s content and language usage, and give constructive criticism we thought would be useful in helping their essay become more concise and effective.

Formal feedback was given through 1 to 1 conversations and comments from our tutor Brad Blackstone. He would read and analyse our writings and point out mistakes, then explain what the mistake was and suggest changes that could be made. We were then made to edit our writings and post them online on our blog. The rationale for doing this was for us to be able to have a centralised platform where we can clearly see the transition and changes in our writing style.

One of my main issues I had was the use of phrasal verbs. I think and type at the same time, which results in my writing reflecting my speech. As such, phrasal verbs and colloquial terms dot my essays. This issue has been pointed out to me many times by both my classmates and Brad. This has allowed me to be more perceptive of such writing errors and rectify it. I have never thought that phrasal verbs were an issue before this course, but I have realised that the elimination of phrasal verbs would make my writing more effective and coherent, which is always good.

As I was working on my projects and essays from other modules this semester, I realised that I am more critical in picking up mistakes my friends or I have made. I believe I am better able to spot grammatical mistakes and writing errors better now as I read and write. This will allow me to write more effectively in the future. Yay.

Presentation Reflection

My presentation performance had been nothing short of disappointing. I lost control of my emotions and my laughter got the best of me. I have a tendency to laugh at my mistake(s) that I make during the presentation, and today it got the out of control. The reason for my mistake was my lack of preparation. Before my presentation, I had another presentation for my sociology module and my group was the last one to present. As such I had no time nor the mental capacity to focus on the presentation for this module. However this is an excuse and I sincerely apologise to anyone who felt offended or insulted by my behaviour. I will try my best to keep my emotions in check for any future presentations.

Critical Reflection Outline

• Feedback and discussion over language use was done both informally and formally.
• One of my main issues was the use of phrasal verbs.
• This has allowed me to be more perceptive of such writing errors and rectify it.

Problem-Solution Essay Draft 3

Combat Online Piracy: Governmental Controls and Public Education

            The burgeoning of social media platforms has created a problem: online piracy.  Online piracy has plagued the music industry since the creation of Napster, a peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing Internet site in 1999. According to the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA), online piracy of music is the infringement of music copyrights, and occurs when one procures music illegally without purchasing it. Other ways that infringe the copyright include sharing of such music and allowing others to download or obtain for free, whether through p2p sites or not. (RIAA, n.d.) As the Internet becomes more widespread and advanced, other p2p websites such as Pirate Bay and KickAss, have been established.       

            However, the bigger issue is that p2p sites normalize illegal copyright infringements. (Levin, Dato-on & Manolis, 2007) By creating a marketplace where people have access and ability to trade music without remuneration, p2p websites make it seem acceptable and commonplace for people to download music illegally without paying for it. Such infringements not only hurt the record company, but also damage the income and job security of the artist, producers, composers and others who are or may be employed by the music industry. Future creative and artist development would suffer due to damages caused by online music piracy and make the music industry less dynamic and vibrant. (Friedlander, 2010) Because of the threat online piracy has on the music industry, the music industry has to work with their government in ensuring stricter laws and enforcement, and better public awareness to control piracy, or the music industry will see their revenues fall and struggle to survive.

            Copyright laws protecting the music industry have to be enforced by the government. Such laws allow the government to shut down p2p websites as part of enforcement. This could be seen when Pirate Bay was shut down by the Swedish government (Zetter, 2014) and Kickass by the United Kingdom government. (Kamen, 2015) While such takedowns have been successful and the illegal music downloads have decreased slightly (Weiblinger, 2011), such p2p sites still persist. (Kamen, 2015)

            The reason why governmental controls are ineffective to eradicate such p2p websites is due to the borderless nature of the Internet. Websites put their content on domains, and any country can host these domains. Kickass, after getting shut down by the Swedish government, moved their domain to another host in Moldova. (Andy, 2015) This fluidity and ability of changing domains between countries makes it difficult for governments to enact effective laws and controls to take action against such p2p websites. Without inter-governmental laws and cooperation, p2p websites will continue to survive and thrive in the borderless Internet and continue to plague the music industry. As such, countries need to create specific copyright laws that enable them to combat these p2p websites.

            Another solution that has been explored is public education. By reaching out and partnering with schools, RIAA is able to create better awareness against music piracy. For example, tertiary institutes in America restrict access into piracy sites on campus Internet networks. Also, there has been greater education, detection and enforcement towards youths in American institutions done in partnership with RIAA. (RIAA, n.d.)

            Public education is a better solution than governmental controls because it is a bottom-up solution that tackles the root issue of music piracy, which is the normalizing of an illegal act. Through public education, users of p2p websites can be influenced and encouraged to stop downloading and sharing music illegally and pay instead. RIAA has created an online resource, called Music Rules, which can be used by teachers and parents to educate the youths and “help you promote respect for intellectual property and responsible use of the Internet in your home”. (Music Rules, 2009) As such, youths can be taught from a young age that music piracy is illegal and hopefully they will be dissuaded from engaging with p2p websites to satisfy their music needs.

            Public education is also better than governmental controls because it requires less concerted efforts between agencies. A government alone is unable to effective eradicate of p2p websites and require inter-governmental collaborative efforts, which might be administratively difficult and costly to be effective and efficient. Some nations, for example Moldova, might participate in such efforts, as they believe that such controls are against freedom of speech. (Andy, 2015) The government, music industry like RIAA, schools, teachers, and parents can use public education to target the younger generations, who are the main users of p2p websites, in their country.

            In conclusion, p2p websites like Pirate Bay normalize music piracy which damages the music industry. Attention and action is required to take down such websites and educate and pull people away from using such websites. I believe that public education, despite needing more time to see substantial results, is a more powerful force than governmental controls to achieve this goal and more efforts and resources should be channelled for this action. However, because online piracy is an universal problem, countries have to enact different laws and public education schemes that suit them in order to effectively counteract online piracy.

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Bibliography

Andy. (2015, January 15). Pirate Bay shows most significant signs of return yet. Torrent Freak. Retrieved from http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-shows-significant-signs-return-yet-150121/.

Andy. (2015, February 5). The Pirate Bay left Moldova before government piracy meeting. Torrent Freak. Retrieved from https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-left-moldova-before-government-piracy-meeting-150205/.

Friedlander, J P. (2010, March 3). Nobody stole the pie. Retrieved from Recording Industry Association of America website: http://www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Nobody_Stole_Pie&news_month_filter=3&news_year_filter=2010&searchterms=nobody%20stole%20pie&terminclude=&termexact=.

Kamen, M. (2015, February 9). Torrent site Kickass seized. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-02/09/kickass-torrents-down.

Kamen, M. (2015, February 23). Pirate Bay struggling to stay afloat since return. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-02/25/pirate-bay-failed-resurrection.

Levin, A M, Dato-on, M C. & Manolis, C. (2007). Detering illegal downloading: the effects of threat appeals, past         behaviour, subjective norms, and attributions of harm. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6, 111-122. Doi: 10.1002/cb.211

Music Rules! (2009). Music Rules! Retrieved from Music Rules website: http://www.music-rules.com/.

Recording Industry Association of America. (2015, March 7). Who we are. Retrieved from Recording Industry Association of America website: http://riaa.com/aboutus.php?content_selector=about-who-we-are-riaa.

Weiblinger, C D. (2011, September 15). Do enforcement efforts make a difference? Retrieved from Recording Industry Association of America website: http://riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Do-Enforcement-Efforts-&news_month_filter=9&news_year_filter=2011&searchterms=weiblinger&terminclude=&termexact=.

Zetter, K. (2014, December 10). Pirate Bay down after Swedish police raid. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-12/10/pirate-bay.

Reader Response Draft 4

In the article, “Who’s the true enemy of internet freedom – China, Russia or the US?” by Morozov (2015) argues that America is the true enemy of Internet freedom. The author illustrates this by comparing America’s actions with those of China and Russia. Actions taken by China and Russia, seen as nations who curtail freedom of expression, are more benign and are for self-protection and self-preservation. America however uses the Internet to retrieve data from users of American technology around the world (Morozov, 2015).

Historically, geopolitical factors made America the world’s policemen. Actions taken by the American government in controlling Internet data are aligned to that role. However, Morozov argues that American government, as a bastion of freedom of expression, needs to be careful when fighting for freedom of expression on the Internet as it can also be seen as fighting for restriction on such freedom.

The American government sees itself as the policeman of the world (Lynch, 2014). A policeman, as generally understood, upholds law and order and acts as the bastion of peace and enforcement of security. America, in this sense, takes on the task of upholding law and order around the world and aims to secure peace and stability. Uncle Sam started becoming the world’s police shortly after the fall of Soviet Russia as it became the sole superpower in the global stage. As the sole superpower, the US took on this moral obligation to police the world and intervene when necessary and has intervened in the affairs of other nations.

The American government has justified its actions by arguing that it is protecting its sovereignty and has a moral obligation to save people who are suffering. Likewise, the American government argues that retrieving data of users accessibly and easily is to protect its sovereignty and ensure security and peace. By collecting these data, it is able to filter and pre-empt any possible threat from happening, preventing any damage to people and property. Such data can be anything from information about narcotics to organised crime such as terrorist strikes.

On the other hand, as the American government fights for Internet freedom, it has to ensure that it is not so invasive such that it ends up curtailing freedom instead. As argued by Morozov, technological companies like Microsoft and Google need to maintain their independence and solidarity and not be easily swayed by the arguments by the US government. He further argues that if companies are unable to maintain their independence they might see their usage and support wane and as users will seek other avenues to fulfil their technological needs because people expect certain basic levels of privacy and use technology without the fear of being spied on. Apple’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tim Cook, has echoed this argument (Rushe, 2015).

The American government needs to understand that they are neither obliged nor capable enough to intervene in every political or social disruption around the world. It has to be strategic and careful in selecting instances when Internet freedom of expression is curtailed for a supposed greater good.

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References

Lynch, C. (2014, September 24). Obama to U.N.: OK, America Will Be The World’s Police. Foreign Policy. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2014/09/24/obama-to-u-n-ok-america-will-be-       worlds-police/.

Morozov, E. (2015, January 4). Who's the true enemy of Internet freedom - China, Russia or the US. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jan/04/internet-freedom-china-russia-us-google-microsoft-digital-sovereignty.

Rushe, D. (2015, February 13). Apple CEO Tim Cook challenges Obama with impassioned stand on privacy. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/feb/13/apple-ceo-tim-cook-challenges-obama-privacy. 

Problem-Solution Essay Draft 2

Online piracy has plagued the music industry since the creation of Napster, a peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing Internet site in 1999. As the Internet becomes more widespread and advanced, other p2p websites, such as Pirate Bay and KickAss, have been established.  The music industry has to work with the government in ensuring stricter laws and enforcement, and better public awareness to control piracy, or the industry will see their revenues fall and struggle to survive. In my essay, I will use American company, Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), as a representative of a music industry in my argument where applicable.

According to RIAA, online piracy of music is the infringement of music copyrights, and usually occurs when one procures music illegally without purchasing it. Other ways that infringes the copyright include sharing of such music and allowing others to download or obtain for free, whether through p2p sites or not. (RIAA, n.d.) However, the bigger issue is that such p2p sites normalize illegal copyright infringements. (Levin et al., 2007) By creating a marketplace where people have access and the ability to trade music without remuneration, p2p websites make it seem acceptable and commonplace for people to download music illegally without paying for it.

Such infringements not only hurt the record company, but also damage the income and job security of the artist, producers, composers and others who are or may be employed by the music industry. Future creative and artist development would suffer due to damages caused by online music piracy. This will make the music industry less dynamic and vibrant. (Friedlander, 2010)

Copyright laws protecting the music industry have to be enforced. However the nature of the Internet makes it difficult to completely get rid of p2p websites. Copyright laws ensure that the creators of the intellectual property, such as music, are properly compensated for their work. A feature of such laws allows the government to shut down p2p websites as part of enforcement. This could be seen when Pirate Bay was shut down by the Swedish government (Zetter, 2014) and Kickass by the United Kingdom government. (Kamen, 2015) While such takedowns have been successful and the illegal music downloads has decreased slightly (Weiblinger, 2011), such p2p sites still persist and exist. (Kamen, 2015)

The reason why governmental controls are ineffective to get rid of such p2p websites is due to the nature of the Internet. Websites put their content on domains, and any countries can host these domains. Kickass, after getting shut down by the Swedish government, moved their domain to another host in Moldova. (Andy, 2015) This fluidity and ability of changing domains between countries makes it difficult for governments to set up effective laws and controls to tackle and take down such p2p websites. Without inter-governmental laws and cooperation, p2p websites will continue to survive and thrive in the borderless Internet and continue to plague the music industry.

Another solution that has been explored is public education. By reaching out and partnering with schools, RIAA is able to create better awareness against music piracy. For example, tertiary institutes in America like colleges and universities now have anti-piracy on their campus Internet networks. Also, there have been greater education, detection and enforcement towards youths in American institutions done in partnership with RIAA. (RIAA, n.d.)Public education is a better solution than governmental controls because it is a bottom-up solution that tackles the root issue of music piracy, which is the normalizing of an illegal act. Through public education, users of p2p websites can be influenced and encouraged to stop downloading and sharing music illegally and pay for them instead. RIAA has created an online resource, called Music Rules, which can be used by teachers and parents to educate the youths and “help you promote respect for intellectual property and responsible use of the Internet in your home”. (Music Rules, 2009) As such, youths can be taught from a young age that music piracy is illegal and hopefully dissuade them from engaging with p2p websites to satisfy their music needs.

Public education is also better than governmental controls because it requires less concerted efforts between agencies. A government alone is unable to effective get rid of p2p websites and require inter-governmental collaborative efforts, which might be administratively difficult and costly to be effective and efficient. Not every nation, for example Moldova, might participate in such efforts, as they believe that such controls are against freedom of speech. (Andy, 2015) Public education, on the other hand, can combine the resources and efforts of the government, music industry like RIAA, schools, teachers and parents to target the younger generations who are the main users of p2p websites.

In conclusion, p2p websites like Pirate Bay normalizes music piracy which negatively damages the music industry. Attention and action is required to take down such websites and educate and pull people away from using such websites. I believe that public education, despite needing more time to see any substantial result, is a more powerful force than governmental controls to achieve this goal and more efforts and resources should be channelled for this action.

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Andy. (2015, January 15). Pirate Bay shows most significant signs of return yet. Torrent Freak. Retrieved from http://torrentfreak.com/pirate-bay-shows-significant-signs-return-yet-150121/.

Andy. (2015, February 5). The Pirate Bay left Moldova before government piracy meeting. Torrent Freak. Retrieved from https://torrentfreak.com/the-pirate-bay-left-moldova-before-government-piracy-meeting-150205/.

Friedlander, J P. (2010, March 3). Nobody stole the pie. Retrieved from Recording Industry Association of America website: http://www.riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Nobody_Stole_Pie&news_month_filter=3&news_year_filter=2010&searchterms=nobody%20stole%20pie&terminclude=&termexact=.

Kamen, M. (2015, February 9). Torrent site Kickass seized. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-02/09/kickass-torrents-down.

Kamen, M. (2015, February 23). Pirate Bay struggling to stay afloat since return. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-02/25/pirate-bay-failed-resurrection.

Levin, A M, Dato-on, M C, Manolis, C. (2007). Detering illegal downloading: the effects of threat appeals, past behaviour, subjective norms, and attributions of harm. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 6, 111-122. Doi: 10.1002/cb.211

Music Rules! (2009). Music Rules! Retrieved from Music Rules website: http://www.music-rules.com/.

Recording Industry Association of America. (2015, March 7). Who we are. Retrieved from Recording Industry Association of America website: http://riaa.com/aboutus.php?content_selector=about-who-we-are-riaa.

Weiblinger, C D. (2011, September 15). Do enforcement efforts make a difference? Retrieved from Recording Industry Association of America website: http://riaa.com/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=Do-Enforcement-Efforts-&news_month_filter=9&news_year_filter=2011&searchterms=weiblinger&terminclude=&termexact=.

Zetter, K. (2014, December 10). Pirate Bay down after Swedish police raid. Wired. Retrieved from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-12/10/pirate-bay.

An Influential Event

An influential event did not change me intrinsically. In March 2013, I underwent a jaw surgery to correct my jaw alignment. Previously, my face was in a shape of crescent moon, which my friends made fun of me by calling me “moon-face” or “Chang-e” (Chang-e is a character who lives in the moon according to Chinese mythology). I had an underbite, which meant that my lower jaw was protruding outwards, while my upper jaw sunk into my face.

The surgery was considered to be severe as it was longer than 8 hours and the recovery was traumatic, as I could not consume any solid food and survive on a liquid diet (which helped me lose 7kg yay). My cheeks were swollen and it pressed on my facial nerves, resulting in perpetual dull ache. From surgery to being able to consume solid food again took about two and a half months.

This event changed my physical appearance. I can empathise with people who have or had jaws like what I had. The pain from surgery and healing is something one would to have experience in order to really understand. Beauty is pain and I truly agree.

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