Today in my Writing for the Internet class, one of my classmates Leslie Rodriguez did a presentation on the ethics of file sharing. Is downloading music and movies right or wrong? A lot of the students thought that downloading is fine- musical artists charge too much for their CDs anyway. Of course, others were on the other side of the fence, saying illegal file sharing is morally wrong.
I have never downloaded anything. Not because I think it's unethical, but because my computer is simply too slow to ever download a song. One song would take about three hours- simply not worth it. Believe me though, if I could download, I would. Sometimes I just want one song, not the whole CD. I don't think it is so wrong to download. That one song I get might motivate me to listen to other songs by the same band and eventually buy their CD or go to a concert.
Artists say that downloading songs hurts them in the long run. However, one song will hardly bankrupt a singer. Besides, the bands can still make money from concerts- nothing like seeing them live, right?
I also have never downloaded because I'm afraid of getting caught. I remember reading an article about a year ago saying how record companies are finding all sorts of people, from 5 to 85, and making them pay outragous fines for one song. With my luck, the first time I would ever download a song (it wouldn't even work right probably) a record company would find out somehow and fine me thousands. I would much rather buy the CD than take that risk.
Some reading this may agree, others do not. This is a big debate right now, and I don't expect it to be resolved any time soon.
Posted by VanessaKolberg at September 20, 2004 02:39 PMI can see why you would be worried. Some of the fines people have to pay for illegal downloading are outrageous! I think that the people generally caught are the ones with thousands of songs on their computers, but I suppose it really doesn't matter.
You poor soul, how did you survive such a slow connection? I had DSL at home, I miss it. :-(
Posted by: Valerie Masciarelli at September 20, 2004 08:37 PMslow internet sucks, doesn't it? I have dial-up at home - no downloading for me here... however, when i'm at a friend's house with fast internet, woah baby watch out! i posted a link to this entry on my latest blog entry. :c)
Posted by: moira at September 21, 2004 11:09 AMThanks! I'm glad some people pity the connection-challenged. The difference between school internet and home is simply amazing.
Posted by: Vanessa at September 22, 2004 10:45 AMYou've never used the Internet in the dorms, have you?
:-(
Posted by: Valerie Masciarelli at October 14, 2004 08:32 PM