Should Online File Sharing be Strongly Prosecuted?
Should illegal online file sharing of music, movies, books, and other media be prosecuted? Copyright holders argue intellectual property must be strictly protected. But critics say that the effort does society more harm than good by creating a generation of young criminals.
Previously: Should the GOP Move to the Left?
Reader Comments
copyright laws and sharing of materials
Nowhere in any of the discussion does any one mention the word "public library" I know this generation has plenty of money to buy copies of books and CDs they want to listen to--or feel that is more important than giving money to church or charity--but those of us in an older generation have read thousands of books and listened to equal numbers of records, CDs and tapes that we never paid for and were never considered as breaking any copyright laws. To this day I listen to at least one CD or book on CD every week while I drive to work that I get from a library. Sure they pay a bit more for a copy of the book, CD or DVD, but no one has suggested we charge a copyright fee for every person who benefits from theses materials.
I am not in favor of unlimited downloading of copyright materials, but there must be some consideration of what people can afford to do and how much educational value there is in reading or listening to various materials. Selling ( profiting monetarily) an illegally copied material is a different issue and should be monitored and prosecuted.
Besides the idea of public libraries, people who do buy copies of books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, etc frequently pass them on to friends who in turn buy another item they exchange. I could never have afforded to read the thousands of books I have read if I had to buy them all new. Those I own come primarily from used book sales.
Another note,
If for instance I download an album of the internet insted of paying for it, what do I do with the money I've saved?
I simply spend it on something else.
Couldn't one argue that making it impossible to download music would in another way damage other business???
Just a quick note on sharing
If you buy a cd made by an artist of your choosing, and your friend also liked that artist, would you not let him borrow that cd? Now two people have the music off that cd. File sharing online is not really so different than in real life. The act of sharing is there regardless. With the use of such online file sharing programs as lime wire, you are sharing your files with any one else using that program. It is not really illegal. I agree that Stars maybe making less money but so what if they are down to 1 mill a year? Normal people have to survive on far less. Just cut us a break.
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