Lesson 12 HW - RC Passage #8 Q: 25 & 27

[moshei24]

Hi,

This passage is about piracy and how it would be hard to apply it to Canadian law because of all the inherent difficulties about digitization and figuring out how to apply it fairly and efficiently.

On both 25 and 27, I narrowed it down to two answers and both times I chose the wrong one.

In 25, I chose E, the answer was A. They wanted to know what would be an agreeable compromise between the public and copyright holders. I chose that they should allow digitilization for internet users in research only. I based that on the fact that internet users are accustomed to treating information as raw material for everyone to use, while copyrighters look at it as their commodity. So a fair deal would be to make it illegal for anything but research, but make it legal for research, so both could benefit. Though, now that I'm writing out my thoughts, I could see why A would be the better answer - being that internet users pay a small fee for the information they want. Why? Because then they get the info they want, and the copyrighters aren't giving it out for free. But who says that the internet users would be willing to pay a small fee? Or does that not matter, because the question isn't asking for a for sure agreeable compromise, rather, they're looking for a MOST LIKELY agreeable compromise? Did I just answer my own question?

Anyway, on question 27, I was torn between C and D, and I actually thought that neither was supported. But I thought that C, which said that the revised law would include making copies of already digitalized was more supported than D, which said that the amount of digitalization would likely rise if it became easier. But now that I think about it, D is probably more supported as an INFERENCE. C is left as a question. They don't lean either way in the text - they leave it up in the air. But D explains how digitalization happens so often because of how easy it is. So it's implying that the ease of doing so helps for it to be so rampant. So I guess it makes sense that if it got easier, it would become more rampant. That choice is making the assumption that it can get easier, and since the fact that it's easy is what makes it so rampant, if it got easier you could assume it would become more rampant. Am I understanding that correctly? Would you be able to explain it a little bit so it's more concrete for me?

Sorry about the long question, but on the bright side, I think others could benefit from this long analysis of those two questions in this passage.

Thanks in advance for the answer!

[Adam Tyson]

I think your analysis on both questions is good, moshei, and I only have a little to add to each.

Looking at q 25, I also thought E was a fairly attractive answer, but then I asked myself: what benefit do the publishers get in this situation, as compared to the current situation? Okay, so researchers are off the hook now - but is there anything that the publishers can do to stop, or slow down, or at least profit from, the unauthorized copying done by non-researchers? It seems to me that E puts them in an even worse position than they are in currently - they have no protection, and they've basically given up on getting anything from the majority of people doing the copying. That's why I ultimately rejected it and went with A, where it works out as you suggested: users get inexpensive, legal access and publishers get a little profit where before they had none.

Q 27 is also as you said - answer C is left unanswered by the passage, while D is at least implied by the fact that digitalization is rampant in part because it is easy. The author does raise the question in the third paragraph about what to do about the issue of making copies of copies, but he never says, or even implies, that changes to the law will effectively deal with that issue, or how they will do so. He just says that it's something that has to be considered if any changes to the law are to be made.

Good analysis. Keep up the good work!

Adam