We are different. Living amidst a new era, technology has changed our lives forever. For more than a decade, our generation had commonly been referred to as the “net generation.” Our fortune brings us life in the age of digital information, where information flows freely and knowledge is infinite. We have embraced the concept of freedom and taken several levels farther than what our forefathers imagined. Whether we realize it or not, we naturally question the unknown and demand answers to our questions (and quick answers at that). The technology we live with today was nothing more than dream decades ago. Yet with these new technologies and information at our disposal, an issue we fight against unnecessarily is file-sharing music online: a redundant issue with a clear solution. While some question its legality, arguments pushing for restrictions are both weak and lacking in support. For that reason, there should absolutely not be any restrictions on file-sharing music online as its limits would contradict traditional human behavior, and damage the music industry severely. The sharing of owned goods has been a part of society for centuries. Restricting a new method of performing the very same task would challenge human behavior from long before the digital era. Sharing is an essential skill that all members of the public are expected to be well acquainted with. In fact, it is among the many fundamental skills that parents teach their children, schools promote to their students, and religious relics preach to their disciples. At some point in time, we have all loaned a book to a friend or shared a cup of sugar with a neighbor. Sharing music over the internet is no different! Italian new media communication expert Cory Doctorow ag... ... middle of paper ... ...h 8, 2010, from www.masternewmedia.org/2005/01/17/why_p2p_file_sharing_is.htm 2. Claburn, T. (2009, June 17). Economists list file sharing's benefits. Information Week Online. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from www.informationweek.com/news/personal_tech/ipod/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=218000206 3. Definition: computer. (n.d.). Answers.com. Retrieved March 10, 2010, from www.answers.com/topic/computer-1 4. Jarkoff, S. (n.d.). Embracing file-sharing is essential for industry survival. PiratPartiet. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from www.piratpartiet.se/referenser/embracing_file_sharing_is_essential_for_industry_survival 5. Moya, J. (2008, June 22). Artist praises file-sharing for increasing ability to tour. Zeropaid.com - if it's free it's for me!. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.zeropaid.com/news/9586/artist_praises_filesharing_for_increasing_ability_to_tour/
In Charles W. Moore’s essay, “Is Music Piracy Stealing?” Moore uses great statistics of the people who are concerned and not concerned about music piracy. He gives many examples of the facts he has researched and gives an ethical appeal to his audience. “This week the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) launched an ad campaign using the slogan ‘copying is stealing,’ attempting to convey the message that digital copying is as serious and criminal as stealing a CD from a record shop or a DVD from a video shop” (Moore 242). However, throughout Moore’s entire essay he has a weak introduction and conclusion paragraph, repetitive examples, examples that do not apply to his topic and he uses many logical
The Napster Controversy From the writings of Burke I get the understanding that he believes that representation is done through the idea of symbols; symbol making, symbol using and symbol misusing. He believes that we use language, that we use it best in a nonverbal way in which we all can understand. And that language verbal or not is the essential key to all representations through any lens or idea. He also believed that we invented the idea of anything to be negative and that we are what makes things negative.
Napster and similar tools have done is make this sharing of files much easier (Newsweek).
Miller, Michael. "Downloading Pirated Music: Pros and Cons." Que: Computing & Technology Books, Video, Articles for Home & Business. Que Publishing, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
An “analyst” was quoted in the case (in 2002) as saying that “people will pay for music on the Internet, eventually.” This person was skeptical of the willingness of consumers to pay for
Love, James, and Tim Hubbard. "Paying for public goods." Code: Collaborative ownership and the digital economy (2005): 207-229.
"Pros & Cons of Online File Sharing & Piracy." Science. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2014.
...en the biggest hurdles the music industry has overcome. Thanks to iTunes and Google Music record labels and artist can reach almost anyone in the world with their music and know that their work won’t be infringed upon. In the next five years copyrights will still have the respect it has today. As technology moves along copyrights will be right behind it revising the rules and regulations to make sure that an artist intellectual property is safe and that the artist or label can receive compensatory damages for copyright infringement.
Reynolds, G. (2012). Ethics in information technology ( 4th ed.). Boston, MA: Course Technology, Cengage.
Castle, Frank. Pros & Cons of Free Music. Article Alley. 10th January 2011. Web. 10th January
Moreover, hackers came up with new ways to remove the digital copyrights so the same as before one downloads music and distributes them around. The industry gets its revenue from selling this content, whether it’s online or in stores, this funds new projects and allows for better products in the future. The public should be aware of this, downloading the content for free, and not buying it will decrease revenue for the companies, stopping them from undertaking future projects. “Production companies should lower the price on their products, I can’t buy music for at least 20$ per album and DVDs for 30$, I only make 200$ per month,” said George Issa, a music fan who spends most of his nights downloading music from the internet, “when there is an album or movie that I really like, I try to buy it legally, I don’t think I am doing anything wrong, they are wrong making money off our backs,” he added.
The music industry started in the mid 18th century with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Through the decades there has been a great increase in this industry; however, the revenues for this industry have declined by half in the last 10 years. This has been caused by music piracy, which “is the copying and distributing of copies of a piece of music for which the composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company did not give consent” . After 1980’s, when the Internet was released to public, people started to develop programs and websites in which they could share music, videos, and information with...
With the popularity of the Internet, sales for CDs, DVDs, Movies, and many other products have increased. Along with the increase of sales has brought forth an ever increasing problem of illegal media being downloaded. Programs such as Bittorent, Kazaa, and other direct-connect networking programs have allowed the transferring of such illegal media. Downloading song files from the Internet over a free peer to peer network is the moral equivalent of shoplifting music CDs from the local mall.
At the dawn of the internet, many things such as books and text became obsolete, due to insufficient monitoring of internet activity and sites. Individuals were able to gain free access to books and publications that normally needed to be bought, or required a fee. This is something that has caused problems for booksellers and publishers. Now, as technology advances, it also begins the decline of music, software, and television industries—but something can be done before it’s too late. Illegal downloading is a problem that affects us all, either directly or indirectly. Many people do not take it too seriously. They have not realized that it is an epidemic; like a disease that keeps growing as people become more knowledgeable about computers and learn more about how software runs. People openly burn music CDs and download music and movies for friends who in turn give it to their friends; it’s a never-ending cycle on illegal practices. The problem started when Napster came out and should have ended when it was shutdown. Unfortunately, not enough has been done to stop the illegal transfer of files. It’s time someone takes full action and ends this detrimental offense.
Now let’s flash forward back to present day when all that doesn’t happen anymore. Instead of saving of our money and begging our parents to take us to the store to buy a newly released album, we simply get on our computer, go to a website and download the album for free. It doesn’t matter what website it is, whether it is Limewire, Frostwire, or Pirate Bay, people will be happy with their free album. There are still some kids to this day who enjoy going to the store and buying and listening to an album the old-fashioned way but we have to wonder how bad things will get as more and more people are getting equipped with the Internet and the use of downloading music. While the internet might be making life easier for all, the growing use of downloading music on the Internet is growing into a detrimental and illegal problem.