Has the Music Industry Been Affected by the Internet The internet is now being used in many interesting and curious ways. The music industry, although, has been abused by free websites. They are offering information on how to get new music without permission from the artists. People go to free websites and download all the unlimited music they want for free. This is really hurting the artist themselves.
Illegal Downloading “is” Stealing 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. When you download any illegal media you are getting something for free that everyone else is required to pay a fee for.
The history of DRM traces back to the days of read-only floppy disks and computer software, but the real controversy around the issue evolved with music and DVDs. The anti-DRM group known as Defective by Design outlined the problem in their “Decade of DRM” article. When the Recording Industry Association of America, the RIAA, saw file-sharing expand on the Internet, they quickly played the part of the robbed victim. The RIAA rolled out DRM schemes and began selling the music with protection, but they soon realized consumers could just walk to the store and buy... ... middle of paper ... ... their products and stop trying to take advantage of them. Creating extra business models only hurts legitimate, paying customers.
“You wouldn’t steal a car; you wouldn’t steal a purse…” Perhaps I would pay for this ticket for the new Ghostbusters, which is rated terrible amongst critics and box office reviews. Perhaps I would purchase a song on iTunes that is in fuzzy quality from a disbanded artist than listen to it for free online. Perhaps I would not upload my images and personal documents on a file sharing site for my colleagues to see, and critique and revise my portfolio and social media page. We all get it, Piracy is the boogieman of intellectual property, but does that mean we should waste time, effort, and even money on threatening and looking down on the people who pirates or shares media every day? But what if a friend gives it to me?
The industry alleges violations of copyright laws. What is the difference between downloading a song off the Internet and recording a favorite tune off the radio? If the music industry is going to pursue legal attacks against Napster, should they not also include radio in their legal battle? If Napster charged consumers to download songs, its services should be banned. However, Napster is free and no profits are gained.
They never sought out permission. Out catalog of music simply became available as free downloads on the Napster system”(Internet). Metallica is suing Napster and has accused Napster of copyright infringement and racketeering. The Metallica bands as well as other groups believe that Napster has cost them much money. They do not believe it is fair that people can go in and download their music for free instead of having to pay for it.
If the final ruling is made to stop Napster’s service, doing so will not be difficult because it is a centralized service. However, “file sharing, a mainstay of Web activity that’s considered almost a ‘right’ by many users, is too popular to stomp out in one fell swoop” (Sherman). The technology under which Napster operates, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), has been in use since 1971. It would be as difficult to destroy this technology as it would music itself. Nonetheless, as with many other technologies that threaten to freely distribute copyrighted music, the RIAA is attempting to stop the file sharing movement in its tracks.
Some people argue that internet piracy only harms large companies, owners, or their employees. I believe that it is wrong because it harms consumers, taxpayers, and almost every common person in this world. When someone downloads pirated content, he or she is also welcoming some viruses, ad-ware, spyware, and some unsolicited software’s to his or her computers. Also, the pirated files lacks the quality of the products, technical support, and protection. If the internet pirates can steal the multi millions music and movies then, can’t they steal important information such as credit card number, bank accounts, and passwords from your computer?
It started all the way back in the days of cassette recorders and blank tapes. It eventually led to the compact disk, which was then used with the compact disk burner. The Internet helped produce a new and more unrestricted form of music piracy that would eventually lead to a threatening high. Consumers should not be allowed to pirate music illegally because it harms the economy, it causes financial harm to the musical artists, and it is teaching a wrong message to teenagers that they can steal and get away with it. Long before anyone imagined free, high quality music available over the Internet, cassette tapes made free music available with only a cassette recorder, a blank tape, and a willing friend.
Software Piracy and it's Effects Identification and Description of the Issue Copyright law are perhaps those laws which are breached the most by individual on a daily bases. This is because one might not know be informed about these law or because not much is done to enforce these law. Also some countries of the world have no Copyright laws. Software Piracy is a breach of a copyright law as one copies data contained on the medium on to another medium without the consent of the owner of the Software. When one buy a software one buys not the software content and therefore it isn't ones property.