Integrity Restored: The NFL's Nightmare

      Who would have thought that a referee would have so much to do with a sport.  Last season it was the players who were locked out from the NFL.  Fans, coaches, families, all waited as the first NFL lockout was on the verge of reality.  Now these were the players that we are talking about, a deal was imminent.  On July 25, 2011 a deal broke and the NFL players were back to business and the NFL survived a huge scare.  Fast forward  to 2012 and we have a similar situation, but then again a little different.  The referees that have been part of the game for years and years did not have a deal in place for the season and were being replaced by "replacement officials" for the start of the season.  Most people shrugged this off because who really cares about a referee right?  Week one came around and things got a bit out of control, no major controversies but there were some complaints that these guys just could not keep up with the speed of the game.  Post week one, comments from all over the NFL poured out that these guys were doing there best but everyone would like to see the real guys back.

     When week three rolled around everyone was a bit fed up with the whole idea of replacement officials.  Many of the players mocked the fact that these guys were refereeing their football games and refused to be detained by them.  In a week two matchup between the Baltimore Ravens and the Philadelphia Eagles there were several times during the game that players began to shove and push after the play because they knew the referees were not going to give them penalties or worst throw them out of the game.  Over the course of the football game four or five big fights broke out that did not result in any penalty yards for either time, so no lesson was learned.  Now, these referees were only a part of one football game at a time.  When they made mistakes it was a big deal but the audiences were limited.  This is when Monday night football came around, week three featuring the Green Bay Packers vs the Seattle Seahawks.  Monday night football is usually the most watched football event of the week and the referees were on the hot seat.  It came down to a late drive by the Seahawks that left them at the 25 yard line with four seconds left on the clock.  This meant Seattle was down to their last opportunity, the score was 12-7 Green Bay.  Before this play took place there was already some conversation that the officials were having a tough day and could not keep up with the NFL game.  This is when it happened, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson scrambled around and threw up a prayer to the endzone. Green Bay had three or four defensive backs around the ball, Seattle had wide receiver Golden Tate who shoved the corner back in front of him went up and was just late after an M.D. Jennings interception, game over!  But wait, the referee awarded Golden Tate with the catch for a touchdown even though the packers corner back (M.D. Jennings) caught the ball.  Seattle had won the game 14-12.  This was all over the news, sports fans were going nuts, reporters were going even more nuts.  A senator from Wisconsin posted Roger Goodells (commissioner of the NFL) phone number online.  He received over 70,000 calls that next day.  Wednesday September 26, came around and the NFL and NFLRA had come to a deal, the real referees were back and the integrity of the game was restored.

Seattle's controversial touchdown catch that brought an end to the replacement officials.

I bought it, i'll share it

Digital Rights Management to save the day?
     With technology moving at a rapid pace and the music industry as popular as ever how do we begin to limit the stealing of music.  When the Backsteet Boys would release their brand new albums back in the late 90s and early 2000s, people would rush to the stores in hopes to get hands on the CD.  The CD usually in a tiny clear case with fancy album work on the front and the track list on the back.  It was always a pleasant surprise to see how creative the album cover would be and it was exciting going to purchase your favorite artists album.  Now in the year 2012, Justin Bieber will release an album.  While some may rush to the store and buy that same CD that people have been buying for a decade.  Most, will simply get online and find the fastest way to rip the entire album right onto their Mac or PC.  This way is lighting fast, convenient, and offers the exact same music.  So why would someone go to the store if piracy is this easy?  Digital Rights Management is a term to refer to any piece of technology that offers the chance to stop or mediate piracy for music, video games, films, and many other things.
Bringing DRM to life

     Digital Rights Management aims to take control of the digital content out of the consumers hand and put it on the computer program too help block, out smart, and limit what is copied for multiple uses.  The digital copies are leading to the major corporations losing out on billions of dollars of profit because why buy the real thing when the copy is free and made so available.  According to Julia Layton at "How Stuff Works" the movie industry estimates a profit loss from illegal distribution of DVD's around 5 billion dollars.  This is why DRM is designed to limit the number of copies that are made available to the purchaser.  It is impossible to completely stop piracy, so this is the 2nd best option when trying to regain control.
This ones on YOU
    So how am i in the middle of this huge crisis in the entertainment industry.  Like most teenagers, i listen to music, play video games, and watch movies on a regular basis.  Walking to class i listen to my favorite artists, when i get home i turn on my XBOX and play my favorite games, and at night i occasionally pop in a DVD to entertain myself before bed.  Now, i do not participate in piracy for these DVDs and XBOX games, but it is almost impossible to track every song on my itunes and to determine that not one of these songs is "stolen".  Piracy is just one of those illegal activities that not many people frown upon.  We look at some crimes as not really being that bad, they don't imply that you are a bad person because you have done this activity.  With the booming music industry the way it is, it is only practical to say that some people are just gonna keep figuring out ways to copy music and thats just how its going to be.

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