Digital Piracy, yay or nay?

[Sarien]

Is downloading mp3's and movies moral? Can we justify it if there are to other means to obtain the said material? Does it give listeners more exposure to new bands and benefit them? Can the drop in music sales be attributed just to this? Or is it because they cost so damn much, bad economy, and no cost of living increase (for adults...though children don't get much in the way of allowance)? What about the privacy? With the peer-to-peer programs, don't we have the right to anonymity? Especially when your information can be released to the people who'd fine you [can somebody explain how they get the info to me? do fire walls work? I'm not that computerwise]

Debate amongst yourselves I have to head on out to step practice...joy...

[EDIT] I think that downloading mp3's is ok. Some bands have like one good song that they play constantly on the radio. Rather then buy the cd, only to find the rest is crap and a waste of your money, listen to some more of their music then decide whether or not to buy the cd. Bottlegging CDs for profit is bad. Downloading a whole movie is likewise bad (unless its some obscure foreign film that you can't find elsewhere...and if you want to make your debut as a porn star...whatever floats your boat). I sometimes find bands I've never heard of and that are really good yet aren't mainstream and therefore next to impossible to get their music elsewhere.

[Wilshire]

I've downloaded a few songs of the internet, and some clips from comedy shows that have already been released on tv.
But i think that downloading music does actually hurt the bands. In fact some of the money that is earned off of record sales goes towards helping new bands start off. For one the music is their property and taking it without payment is, well, stealing, and thus immoral. I know i did it, so sue me (i guess that is actually possible nowadays).
As for movies...the same. The rights to those are owned, so downloading them (especially the copies that come out before they are in theaters) is illegal.
And as for finding you despite your "privacy", THEY (idk who 'they' is exactly) have records of all and everything you do on you computer like visit websites or download stuff, and if they had a warrant they could come to your house and search your files themesleves, the guys in black suits i mean.

[scott]

Stealing is wrong,so yes in a way stealing music is wrong.

But also spreading music is good.Most of the bands that are pissed about file sharing are big name bands that are in it for the money.A lot of the smaller bands depend on mp3s and such to get their name out there.

Here is how I see it.I download a few songs from a band.I like it,so I buy their cd.Then I buy tickets to their shows and buy shirts and stickers and what not from them.They make money off me and I enjoy them.It's a win win.

But if I download stuff and I don't like it,I won't buy.I would have never bought it in the first place so they didn't lose anything from me.


I think file sharing is alright as long as you still go out and buy cds and what not.You should want to support the bands you like anyways.

[SuperCrazySquanto]

Downloading music to sample it is fine, or if the music is stuff you can't really get locally. But if you download full movies or TV shows, your just being a cheapass. And I do think that Lars Ulrich should smoke a big one. I wish someone would chili dog him

[♫MysteriousMan♫]

having a 28.8, i must select what i download very carefully, so its usually songs i heard a little of and want to check it out further, or songs people ask me to check out. I use downloading for what it is intended for, and that is to check out the new sound of a band to see if i want to buy their new album, or to see if the song is good enough to spend 10 bucks on. 80% of the time i either buy the album later, or end up deleting the song a few days later because it sucks. I know there are millions of people out there that abuse this power to download and sell their illegally burned cds to kids at school, family members, etc. I believe having a KaZaA list of 4,000 songs is illegal, but having 10 or 15 is pretty ok because obviously you only cost the band a few bucks. Sure all that adds up, but the 4,000 song people are ruining it for the rest of us.

[SuperCrazySquanto]

I say that's pretty dead on. The people that say that they should be able to "because they are poor" really need to see that they're basically stealing that money away from the artists.

And I don't think that sampling songs really costs the artists much, since you more than repay them with the CD purchase and if you didn't intend to buy the other person's CD anyways, then you really aren't stealing at all. If someone likes the songs and burns them, however, with no intention of ever buying the CD, that's wrong

[scott]

Having 10 songs is the same as having 4000.Theonly difference is if you buy cds.People that just download and don't buy cds steal,and just plain suck.Buy cds people!

[SuperCrazySquanto]

I dunno, we're kinda ignoring the obvious: can't tell motive when someone's downloading. If I had to choose, I'd probably say get rid of the whole thing, but that's just because I never really use it anyways. I guess some people just get so accustomed to it that they simply become cheap and never really think about buying CDs atal (is that the correct Olde Englishe spelling?)

[Immortalica]

Six switch you really are an idiot. DOn't buy cds unless you really want to. But dont buy them as leisurely as you would DL online. It isnt stealing, and it isn;t wrong. FIght the man, and people like 6switch who are in it for the money. ...and why is supercrazy redskin making real comments, maten you child molester.

[scott]

I am not saying just go out and buy cds just to buy them.

Buy cds from bands you like and support the bands you love.

[Seal_Tech]

I only download songs I prob. would download movies but it takes me to long. I don't think that the gov is going to care about me getting a couple of movies I think that they are going to crack down on the people who a mass producing them and selling them to make a profit.

[Lord Mildrid the Nut Schlapper]

I think it does cheat bands and movie makers. It denies them what is rightfullt theris an adaquate amount of money to support their artistic (or lack there of) talent. I think that downloading music is fine, you should just have to pat for it, like you would for a cd in a cd store.

Take for eample an average cd, amybe containing 10 songs. It may cost somewhere between 10 or 20 dollars. This means roughly 1 or 2 dollars a song. Online, on most downloading services to download a single song cost 99 cents about a dollar, the same for a song. You rarely complain when you buy a cd you want, so why complain when you pay the same price for a song on a cd for one on the internet?

[scott]

But what if you don't pay for the songs you download,but do buy cds,is that not right?

[Lord Mildrid the Nut Schlapper]

I know that most people don't just smaple, then buy the cd (although their are exceptions). Most people download for free then keep building up songs and making cds out of the downloaded songs. This is unfair. I suppor the 99 cencents per download every time a song is downloaded.

[scott]

Yea,to sample is fine.But to download albums and then not buy the cd once it comes out is wrong.Damn us...