Ten real reasons not to copy or download/upload
music.
OK first off this is not going to be another one of those cutesy articles
about music piracy where I make pirate noises like "avast ye" and "aargh" and
crap like that. This article is also not going to try to appeal to your sense of
justice and morality either because the real truth is that the moral appeal
doesn't work. Most people don't respect others property out of a sense of moral
duty, they just don't want to get caught stealing. If you don't believe me just
leave a hundred dollar bill lying around in public with a note saying don't take
this I'll be right back for it and see how long it lasts. This article is
however about ten real reasons not to download or pirate music from the
internet or other sources so lets get real. First #10.
Reason # 10) Large fines of up to thousands of dollars and
jail time are just around the corner for a huge number of violators, even those
who consider themselves to be too small of an offender to attract attention.
If you don't believe me just check out the amount of legislation that congress
has passed in the last three years relating to this issue. Contrary to popular
belief it is illegal not only to upload songs but to download them as well and
if you have done so even once you
are in violation of the law, period. If you
have a bunch of mp3s you didn't pay for and they left a trail on your computer
or worse still they are still stored there watch out. Likewise if you
have copied a CD for a friend you are in violation of the law
and the
enforcement is getting very serious. The RIAA (a recording Industry watchdog
group) wants your head and Congress has given it to them. If you still don't
believe check out the digital millennium act of 2000, and that's just the tip
of the iceberg. Big brother is watching and he's
pumped up on steroids and ready to kick your ass. If you don't believe me jump
ahead to #1 and see what I mean. Do yourself a favor purge those illegal files
and sign a waver today before its too late.
Reason # 9) Malicious programs that masquerade as harmless mp3
files. You make think that the song your downloading from that peer to
peer network you love so much is a killer way to save money but guess what,
hackers may be using the files to spy on your activities. Using Trojan horse
programs and other nasty malicious scripts hackers can open up a door to your system so they can get
credit card, ISP account and other personal information stored on your computer. Worst of all you may
never know it because the programs are usually exactly the same as regular songs
with the exception
of the hidden surprise added by those ingenious and malevolent hackers.
If your lucky they will just be content to delete files or crash
your computer. If your not you may wake up and find your identity has been
stolen and all your stocks and bonds have been traded for cash at some island
bank somewhere. mp3s are one of the most common ways to spread these malicious
types of programs and due to the nature of the networks it is incredibly easy to
do and very hard to prevent. Remember next time you download a file from an
unsecured p2p network like Gnutella and Kazaa, little brother may be watching
you.
Reason # 8) mp3s suck. You heard me. Yes I know
everyone is doing it but everyone was also listening to 8 tracks instead of LP's
and they got over it. mp3s are traded over the internet because they are small
not because they are good. The reason they are small is because they squash the original signal to a
mere fraction of what it was. Whatever information is lost when they do so
the converter has to guess at when it reconstructs the signal. If you don't
believe me do a side by side comparison on a decent stereo. Be sure to use a CD
with good production value like Evanescence's new CD or older CD's because new
albums are being recorded at much lower quality due to the evaporation of funds
for recording albums. (See #7 for more info.) Even an untrained ear will find
the MP3 is flat and lifeless compared to a CD quality file. Not to mention the
converter loses information when it transforms the file further degrading the
signal. Also you don't get the cover art or band credits and information that
you get from a real album.
Reason # 7) It's causing new music to suck.
New albums have really low production value on most recent releases because of
lost revenues in the recording industry. Due to the downloading and copying
disaster studios are not spending the money they used to on producing albums in
professional studios with top notch sound engineers. Just another wonderful
ancillary benefit of the downloading craze. Gone are the days of the epic studio
album with its flawless production combined with reckless abandon and perfectly
recorded searing guitar riffs. Since record companies have lost almost 65% of
their revenue from albums in the last year they are looking at them as loss
leaders now instead of a sellable product. They put out lackluster albums for
the public and occasionally produce a few good songs and sell them to the movies
or to TV shows. Have you noticed most of the good music comes out on soundtracks
now? That's because movies and TV are the only game in town that pays revenues
on recorded music. End result: music is commercialized for
the movies and TV commercials and not written and recorded for the listeners. If
a album is not right for that limited
market it must be made on a shoestring budget or worse yet, not made at all.
Reason # 6) Women wont sleep with you. OK were half joking
about this one but let's think about it for a minute. Women don't want to date a
guy who drives a moped and takes his date to share a 99 cent burrito at Taco
Bell, so why would they want to date a guy too cheap to buy his own music? Plus
they play in those cheesy MP3 players. Your not getting lucky when you put that
plastic lunch box playing static ridden Barry White on the headboard of your
mock racecar bed bud. Trust me.
Reason # 5) Pirating screws over bands big time. OK I
know what your thinking, boo hoo another rock star will have to make due with
last years Mercedes for another month or two. Let's call Jerry Lewis for a telethon.
First of all you must be thinking of movie stars because despite the bill of
goods MTV and others in the industry have sold you even the most popular musical artists aren't nearly
that rich. They aren't even close to sports figures and movie stars in terms of
income. The truth is that pretending to be rich is good for business. The
reality is quite different. Why do you think every super popular musician in the world tries to make
the crossover to TV and the movies. That's where the money is. The recording industry looses 4.2 billion
dollars to piracy a year. Yes that was billion with a B. 85% of artists never
recoup what they spend on making an album, and yes it comes out of their
advance not the record companies funds. I read recently that the average
signed musician makes less than the average garbage man over the course of a
career. That is a sad fact. Most artists think when they get signed that
they've made it. Guess again, and that doesn't even take into account
talented unsigned artists struggling to make it. If a signed artist on a major
label is lucky they get a dollar from each CD to split with the members of the
band, managers, roadies, public relations people, etc. Before they make a cent
however they must pay for the cost of recording the album. Even when they sell
millions of albums they rarely recoup the record advance which leaves the artist
holding the bag. Now with the downloading and copying craze the problem is
monumentally worse. 95% of musicians rely on royalties for their income and many of
them are filing for bankruptcy and leaving the industry. Even if you have no
sympathy for Johnny Rock Star (why download his music then?) what about the
musicians of tomorrow. I know for a fact that most new projects get torpedoed by
pirate's and uploaders/downloaders who pirate and distribute the music before it
is able to be produced and sold. Why care? Well do you want to listen to the
same stinking bands for the rest of your life. I don't . Also no revenue for
bands means less rock music and less live tours. Have you noticed the number of
live shows and new bands has dropped dramatically. Now you know why.
Reason # 4) It's putting mom and pop record stores out of
business. On TV the other day a teen was asked why he pirated music. He
answered it was like taking a bite out of an apple but the owner of the apple
still has the whole thing left. OK even if that idiotic logic was true now the
owner can't sell his apple cause everyone can bite it for free. I guess that was
the kids way of saying it was a victimless crime. If you still believe that
guess again. I've already mentioned the small bands and independent labels who suffer
because of piracy. Now meet the other victims, mom and pop record stores.
Small record stores all over the country are also closing their doors for good.
If you want a clear victim here it's them. Their very livelihood has been stolen
from them. If you ask once again why should I care well let me ask you this. Do
you want to get all your music from Wal-Mart from now on? They don't carry
anything with controversial lyrics or content and forget anything slightly out
of the mainstream. They don't sell most independent labels music, something
which mom and pop stores were the last great frontier for. Plus the answer to
the question why not is in the name. Mom and pop. Do you want to steal from a
mom and pop and put them on unemployment so you can have free crappy mp3s of
commercialized mainstream music. I don't. Also these failed businesses mean
fewer jobs, most of which were filled by young adults.
Reason # 3) Ice Cube might find out and kick your ass.
OK this one is a bit far fetched too, at least for us out here east of the Cali
coast but ask yourself this before you illegally copy or download an artists
life work. If I am a true fan of this music why defraud the artist of his or her
right to make a living? If you listen to a group one would assume its because
you like and admire them. So why take the food from the mouths of their
children. As a member of the band Tool stated recently, "True fans don't rip off
their artists."
Reason # 2) It's Un-American. Whether you realize it or
not this is an American issue. America provides 80% of the music and movies for
the entire world. It is the only industry I know of in which the USA has a trade
surplus with every other country in the world, meaning we have more money coming
in than going out in that industry. The fact is the practice of piracy and
downloading is costing the American taxpayers and members of many large and
small US based companies incredible amounts of money. If we don't curtail
piracy basically we in this country will be footing the bill for all the worlds
illegal copyright infringement. Why should you care? Isn't it obvious the money
has got to come from somewhere, and it will be us who foots the bill for
higher unemployment costs and loss of business, not the rest of the world. Also
losses from the recording industry and CD retail stores translates into higher
CD prices and less good music to choose from which hurts the consumer. The
losses go down the supply chain from the CD pressing plants and distributors
right down to the mom and pop stores that sell the records. Hey we have to find
a way to pay for all these tax cuts and the war on terrorism right? Why should
we foot the bill for the worlds illegal music piracy practices too?
Reason # 1) The infamous License to Hack. If I haven't
scared or concerned you yet then hold on to your seat cause here comes the
newest tool in the war on piracy. On July 25th,
2002 Representatives Howard Berman, D-Calif., and Howard Coble, R-N.C.,
introduced bill into the house which will legalize computer hacking provided the
hacker is a copyright holder or agent of a copyright holder. The License to Hack
was proposed as the newest and most potent weapon to fight music
piracy.
It is commonly called the Uniform Computer Information
Transactions Act (UCITA), with a provision that lets vendors remotely sabotage
software you've bought if they believe you're not conforming to their license
terms. Translation, if you have illegally downloaded songs or copied CD's or
even if the industry and it army of hackers believes you might have they can
legally hack your computer with full sanction from the American government.
Yes you read that right. They have cart blanch to rummage through and copy
everything from your personal info to those pictures you promised your
girlfriend no one would ever see. They can monitor or crash your computer or
just collect information on you to prosecute you in court.
The bill doesn't limit what techniques, such as
viruses, worms, denial-of-service attacks and domain name hijacking, would be
permissible, and it severely limits the rights to sue in response to such
attacks giving the industry unprecedented freedom to pursue and prosecute
violators. If you download music illegally and you suddenly find your hard drive
has crashed and the secret service has sent you a subpoena for your birthday
don't say I didn't warn you.
Signed,
Johnny Anonymous (A real fan of music)
Other Items of Interest
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