File Sharing: Good Vs. Bad

File Sharing:

Good Vs. Bad

In recent articles about file sharing, a few things have become very clear. What is the reason that the government and recording artists don’t want you to share music files? Sure it has something to do with the lack of tax dollars it produces for the government and the loss in income for recording artists, but it also has a lot to do with the time and effort put forth to make these albums.

In a recent article “Music industry worried about CD burning”, it has been made clear that the music industry is worried that it will not be in such high demand as it once was. With the invention of CD burners it has become possible for regular citizens to copy music CD’s and sell them, taking money straight out of the artists pocket.

“Burned CDs accounted for 29 percent of all recorded music obtained by fans in 2004, compared to 16 percent attributed to downloads from online file sharing networks” (Mitch Bainwol, chief executive for RIAA)

With the latest technology in CD burning it is now possible for people to put the CD labels directly on them and consumers will never know the difference. This is why record prices are extremely high. If you could own a CD without paying twenty dollars for it, it would seem like a bargain. At what point does it become an issue, where the government needs to step in and lend a hand? When online file sharing users become abusers.

If this is the reason the government is stepping in and lending their support to the fight against P2P file sharing then I can understand it completely. There is an issue with people abusing these sites for their own personal gain. That is not only a legal issue but a moral one as well.

Why are all of the P2P network users being punished for the same things the abusers are being punished for? If some of these users are like me, they might download a couple songs from one artist and become interested in purchasing the entire album. If the recording artist would put out a couple good songs from an album and make them available to the general public at no cost, it would boost its sales ten fold. If that were the case then the need for P2P file sharing would strictly be for the criminals that use it for their own personal gain.

“Looking at my collection of MP3s, however, it’s easy to see the impact file sharing has had on my musical tastes.” (Matt Sanchez, Independent Florida Alligator). The handful of artists that allow their music to be shared over the internet are going to make more of a profit than those against it. The artists that are out there not making a fuss about who is downloading their music, will end up being the most popular bands in America, due to the fact that as people download their music, they won’t be in fear of the though of going to prison or even paying hefty fines for enjoying music.

“Most of us buy studio-products on occasion, but we simply don’t have the money to purchase everything we watch (meaning, download)” (P2P.net)

If file sharing is so wrong, then why is the entertainment industry trying to get themselves into the business? “You can “legally” download a music track from iTunes for a dollar. However, it’s not only more expensive than a download but it also has