PrepTest 115

Topic: Legal

Paragraph 1

• Paragraph note
  • Internet users’ view (free access to info) and problem (sharing copyrighted info)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Internet users’ view:
    • See the internet as a way to get free access to information, including copyrighted material (first and second sentences)
  • Examples of copyrighted works that are being transmitted online:
    • Books, photographs, videos and films, and sound recordings (second sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “begun to conflict with reality” (last sentence)

Paragraph 2

• Paragraph note
  • Problem expanded (Canadian law doesn’t clearly prohibit digitalization of copyrighted media)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Definition of “digitization”: converting media into computer data (first sentence)
  • Examples of unauthorized reproductions that Canadian copyright law prohibits:
    • Photocopies of books or pirated audiotapes (last sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “is not yet clear” (last sentence); “not yet technically a crime” (last sentence)

Paragraph 3

• Paragraph note
  • Experts’ potential solution (make digitalization illegal), author’s view (this raises questions) and prediction (problem will not be resolved easily)
• Views, minor Meta-Structures, and the author's attitude
  • Experts’ view:
    • Revise copyright law by prohibiting unauthorized digitization (first sentence)
    • It will be difficult to resolve the clash between Internet users and the publishing community since the two groups’ beliefs are in opposition (last sentence)
  • Author’s view:
    • There are several problems with the expert’s solution: Who does it apply to — just people who reproduce the original or people who reproduce copies? Is it even enforceable? What about special cases, like educators? (third through fifth sentences)
  • Comparison, according to the experts:
    • Electronic reproduction rights should be the same as rights to other types of reproductions (first sentence)
  • Author’s attitude: “host of questions” (second sentence); “virtually unenforceable” (fourth sentence)

Main Point: Although Canada's copyright laws do not explicitly prohibit the unauthorized transmission of media on the internet, simply expanding existing laws to cover this online transmission may not be as simple as it seems.

Problem/Solution: The Problem/Solution Meta-Structure best fits the argument made in this passage.* The beginning of the passage introduces a problem created by “digitization” on the internet: users of the internet want to communicate and exchange copyrighted information freely, but this conflicts with copyright laws’ desire to protect original ideas.

Once we have identified the problem that the passage is investigating, determining whether the author presents a solution to that problem is critical to understanding the passage as a whole. Finally, in the third paragraph, the passage introduces a possible solution, attributed to “experts”: perhaps lawmakers should simply extend copyright law to cover digitization?

However, the author isn’t convinced. The last paragraph outlines several of the author’s concerns. Instead of settling on a way to fix the problem introduced in the first paragraph, the passage ends by emphasizing how even experts think it will “be hard to resolve the clash between the Internet community” and “the publishing community” (P3, S6).

In a Problem/Solution passage, the main point is typically a summary of the author’s opinion on the proposed solution(s). Since the author thinks that extended copyright law to cover digitization will be more complicated than the experts may believe, our main point will reflect that opinion. In other words, our main point is “Although Canada's copyright laws do not explicitly prohibit the unauthorized transmission of media on the internet, simply expanding existing laws to cover this online transmission may not be as simple as it seems.”

*We can also think of this passage as a Describing a Debate passage, as much of this passage is presented as a debate between internet users and publishers/copyright holders. If this is the designation you went with, you would probably end up with a very similar main point and set of notes that we came up with. Remember, multiple Meta-Structurescan accurately describe the same passage, so we shouldn’t be too worried about coming up with the one “correct” Meta-Structure. As long as we’re thinking about the passage’s overarching structure, we’re doing our job effectively.

As convenient as it would be for the author to always provide a solution to problems mentioned in the passage, effective test-takers will remember that the author is under no obligation to do so. Making premature assumptions about how the author regards certain solutions can prevent us from understanding the passage. Take, for example, the solution discussed in the third paragraph of this particular passage. What do we actually know about the author’s thoughts?

Only that the author thinks the solution seems incomplete and unenforceable.

The author never says that we should or shouldn’t pursue this solution. So, when answering questions about the author’s opinions (e.g., Major Point questions, Tone questions, some Minor Point questions), we should avoid answer choices that characterize the discussed solution as either “right” or “wrong.” something closer to “complicated” than to “wrong.”

This idea relates back to the passage’s Meta-Structure. While it might be tempting to classify this passage under a Criticizing a Viewpoint Meta-Structure, there are several aspects of the passage that make a Problem/Solution Structure a better choice. The author characterizes the issues with the solution as “questions” — not “drawbacks” or “weaknesses” or anything critical like that. Moreover, the problem (not the conflict between internet users and publishers) is always kept front and center. It is the topic we are first introduced at the beginning and also what the author chooses to reiterate at the end. If we had elected to think about the passage primarily through the lens of “Criticizing a Viewpoint,” we might have missed how emphatically the passage demonstrates that the problem is a sticky one.