| Published: Waubonsee Insight |
| Date: December 2005 |
| Section: Opinion/Editorial |
| Comments: |
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By: Ian Essling
Ten years ago, if you wanted to get some new music, you went to the store and bought it. You handed the clerk some money, and walked out of the store physically holding your CD.
Now that we're well into the Digital Age of the 21st century, it's more likely to find someone illegally downloading a "free" copy of a song off of a peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing network, then it is to find them in the local Borders. Buying a CD is now a novelty; over 278 million people download over 2.6 billion copyrighted files each month from P2P programs.
The legal ramifications of these actions cannot be taken lightly. Since you're downloading a file that is copyrighted by the original artist without compensating them in anyway, you are instantly guilty of a violation of Titles 17 and 18 of the U.S. Code. These sections protect copyright owners from the "unauthorized reproduction, adaptation or distribution of sound recordings, as well as certain digital performances to the public," according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) official website.
The penalties for violations of these codes range from fines up to $150,000 and/or ten years jail time...for EACH song. While the RIAA and others are usually pursuing large-scale distributors of illegal music, the "little people" are not immune. As we give away more and more of our privacy to the government and corporations, it becomes easier and easier for everyone and his brother to see exactly what files you have downloaded to your computer, and whether or not you paid for them. You think paying for college and textbooks is putting a dent in your wallet?
Try settling a fine with the RIAA. They might fine you a couple million dollars, but hey, they are generous souls; they usually settle cases for under $20,000. Wow, how unbelievably spectacular! You saved a few hundred bucks by not buying the CDs, and now you owe ten times what you saved in fines!
On top of prosecuting individuals, the recording industry and national governments have initiated major crackdowns on the programs and organizations responsible for providing the backbone of the illegal P2P market.
On November 7th, P2P giant Grokster was finally defeated in their ongoing copyright violation case. They were ordered to shut down their site, and pay a $50 million fine to the recording industry, by order of the U.S. Supreme Court. MP3.com and the old Napster are other examples of illegal P2P sites that were torn down based on their disregard for copyright laws.
Another downside of getting your music from these less-than-legal sources is the possibility of infecting your computer with spyware. Spyware, nefarious programs that can damage your computer and steal your data, often come bundled with the music downloading programs. For example, the most popular program, Kazaa, installs some of the most ruthless and damaging software known to man. These programs pop up ads, log your keystrokes and transmit other personal data. Keyloggers are perhaps the most underrated spyware tools in existence. It's hard to fathom sometimes, but they literally log EVERYTHING that is typed into the computer. Passwords, account names, credit card numbers...it's all fair game.
On top of the spyware installed by the downloading program itself, most of these programs give no guarantee as to what exactly you are downloading; just because the user named RockFan291 says that the file they uploaded is the latest song by Three Doors Down doesn't mean it is actually that file. It could just as easily be some sort of virulent and invasive virus.
These programs, if left unchecked, will eventually require professional intervention. You'll end up calling in a computer repair expert and paying them an exorbitant fee to clean up the infestation on your computer, if it can even be fixed. I have personally repaired dozens of spyware infections in the last few years, and 75% of them began with a music-downloading program like Kazaa or Grokster being installed.
The effect of all this on the recording industry, while perhaps not immediately apparent through the factless and biased articles floating around on the Net, is easily discernible with a little solid research.
Between 2003 and 2004, sales of CD Singles in the U.S. dropped 62%. During that same time, the number of people downloading illegal music doubled, according to a study conducted by BigChampagne.com, an Internet monitoring firm.
As of June of this year, full track CD sales in the U.S are down by 6% compared to this time last year, and the sales of CD singles are down another 37%.
Not all of this drop can be attributed to illegal downloading; legitimate pay-per-song sites such as ITunes and Wal-Mart.com are taking a small part of the revenue from traditional CD sales (around 5%), but most experts agree that piracy is still having an effect on sales.
Speaking of sales, people have defended their illegal downloading habits by saying that "CDs are too expensive." While I'm not a big fan of paying $20.00 for a CD, what these people don't realize is that while CD prices have risen in past years, they are rising less then they technically should be, were they to stay in proportion with the Consumer Price Index and inflation rate of the country. If CD prices had risen at the correct proportion, then in 1996 they should have been around $33.00 a piece. Instead, they were a measly $12.00. This trend has continued today, although there is less of a gap between the two possible CD prices as there was in '96.
Another reason why some people consider it OK to illegally download music is that it's not "really" stealing.
Now, I understand that different people have different ideas when it comes to what is moral and what is not, but it is safe to say that most of the civilized world believes that stealing, in and of itself, is wrong. Downloading music from a P2P program, without paying the original artist, is theft.
My question is this; if you would not walk into a store and tuck a CD in your jacket, why is it considered OK to download the same music?
The cold, hard truth is that illegal downloading is not OK, and never will be. People like to hide behind the digital aspect of the way they acquire the music. "Well, it's just a download, not like I light-fingered a CD."
Unfortunately, it's the same thing; just because the computer monitor offers supposed anominity to downloaders does not make it right.
I would challenge anyone, and I mean anyone, to come up with some sort of logical argument on how stealing a song online is different then stealing one from a store in real life, other then the fact that they are less likely to be caught online, which, in my opinion, is why so many people do it.
If someone wouldn't have the guts (or stupidity) to walk into Coconuts and walk out with an armload of CDs, then they have no business doing the same thing in a digital format. There are alternatives: pay for your songs one at a time from Wal-Mart.com or ITunes, or, perish the thought, buy the CD at a music store. After all, if you do that, then you get the fancy album artwork too.
The only good use of P2P music networks, in my opinion, is for small bands that have limited exposure to get their music heard. If they are not charging money for it somewhere else, I see no problem with their songs being spread via P2P. In fact, this can help the growth of these bands quite cost effectively.
With all the problems and dark clouds surrounding illegal P2P file sharing, it's a wonder that some people still swear by it. When you are faced with the possibility of thousands of dollars worth of fines, irreparable damage to your computer, jail time, and compromising your personal integrity, those $.99 songs from Wal-Mart or ITunes are starting to look really inviting, aren't they?
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