Piracy: Good or Bad?

Probably the biggest situation where piracy had become well-known throughout the internet world was from Napster. Napster was an online service invented by an 18-year-old college student that allows a user to see song files residing on the hard drives of other users. However, Napster was finally shut down for copyright infringement because of the mass usage of online users exchanging files with one another. Piracy skyrocketed because of Napster and it started to include the exchange of online movies, books, and other media that are digitalized. Another major recent file-sharing software was just shut down due to copyright infringement because of the mass allowance of free music sharing. Limewire took the place of Napster after Napster was forced to close down due to many law suits including big artists such as Dr. Dre and Metallica. However, Limewire was just recently closed and is now a software company that charges for file sharing between users sort of like Itunes. Itunes is currently the most popular music buying software on the Internet. However, many people are making money off of burning CDs and selling it to people. Shane Ham and Robert Atkinson talk about Napster and the music industry in their article titled, "Napster and Online Privacy." They made an interesting point about piracy and I never realized how much the music industry loses from online file sharing. Ham and Atkinson say that, "The Recording Industry Association of America estimates that piracy of physical music products, cassettes, and compact discs cost the industry nearly $5 billion in sales worldwide every year."

This statistic was from the year 2000. I can't even imagine how much money they are currently losing from the piracy of physical music products. RIAA.com makes a great point when talking about physical piracy and where it mostly comes from. When I started to think about what would be the major class or group to most benefit from online piracy, it took me less than a second to get my answer. I looked at myself in the mirror. As RIAA.com says in "Piracy Online," college students are the best target to discover the major users of online file sharing. "Online music theft- particularly on college campuses and with hardcore frequent peer-to-peer users- remains a black mark on this exciting marketplace."

After I read all the articles and watched the movie for this week, I think my opinion on piracy and copyright is the same. I still don't support online piracy even though I have been a victim of illegal music sharing before. I still believe that the music industry will continue to suffer even though there are advantages for them too. Even though I do see benefits of artists form piracy, I still don't feel like it will benefit them that much to replace the losses that occurs in online piracy. However, if someone hears an artist for the first time on an online file sharing software and ends up loving them, then they will like to purchase other things that have to do with that particular artist such as concerts, events, and apparel. I stand with the RIAA on their effort to try and curb internet illegal downloading. When I used to download music, it severely impacted my computer such as giving it viruses and affecting the speed and pace of downloads and websites.

Also, the recent law suits that I have been hearing about on the Internet and the news has affected my decision on choosing now to download music illegally. I have switched over to Itunes and am a big fan of Apple in general. Many law suits and fines that I have heard of were insane. One school teacher only downloaded like 20-30 and was charged with illegal music downloading and sharing. Here is an interesting article on how the MPAA targets individuals who are victims of online piracy. Very interesting article! Check it out and let me know your reactions to it! http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1853573,00.asp