Is Downloading Music for free Wrong??

[2strokebloke]

I don't think it's wrong at all. I buy most of my music second hand anyway, so the artist isn't going to see money from me whether I buy their record second hand, or have a friend download it offline for me. Add to that most of the music I listen to is 10 or more years old - and you realize it's not like they'd turn a profit off of such an old song or album now anyway. (also of the very minimal ammount of downloaded music I have, the majority is foriegn music that's near imposisble to find in the U.S. and may not be currently available on CD or cassette - or ever will be in the future)
As for "stealing" it's not "technically" stealing, you're not actually taking anything - once you have a copy of song, it doesn't mean somebody else can't listen to it, unlike if you stole a CD from somebody.
What makes the RIAA any more mature than the 12 year olds they sue?

[TexasF355F1]

Originally Posted by 2strokebloke

What makes the RIAA any more mature than the 12 year olds they sue?

Forgot to mention a similar thought in my post. It's very true.

[DGB454]

I guess if you guys can't see that it's stealing no matter how much the artist make then I'm not going to try and convince you. While you're at it steal that pen from work to label your CDs with. It's only worth a few cents anyway.

[Oz]

Originally Posted by DGB454

I guess if you guys can't see that it's stealing no matter how much the artist make then I'm not going to try and convince you. While you're at it steal that pen from work to label your CDs with. It's only worth a few cents anyway.

You have got to stop seeing the world in terms of black and white. There's a lot of grey out there.

[DGB454]

You have got to stop seeing the world as a lot of grey. There is a lot of black and white out there that you choose to see as grey.

[Ssom]

Originally Posted by DGB454

I guess if you guys can't see that it's stealing no matter how much the artist make then I'm not going to try and convince you. While you're at it steal that pen from work to label your CDs with. It's only worth a few cents anyway.

So what if I steal pens from work??? It sure as fucking hell beats buying 'em, besides they have about 700 of them upstairs. And I'm not being sarcastic, I have no consience when it comes to flogging 30 cent pens from million-dollar enterprises.

I also flog paper if I can manage it, but that's a rarer oppurtunity.

Which is like music really, I have no conscience whatsoever about it. I always buy NZ-made CD's and NEVER download any of the music, I understand that most of them are almost as poor as I right now, I gladly support them, as do I support those foreign acts who I see worthy of giving my money to- namely Coldplay, Moby, the White Stripes and DMX.

I am extremely pro-artist, but I'm not the least bit sympathetic toward the immature, greedy and deceitful old windbags that are the RIAA, they can rot in hell as far as I'm concerned, the artists would be richer without them.

It's criminal to charge anyone $24.95 for a piece of plastic that plays music, the advertising costs cannot be so much that the price must br that high.

I'll keep stealing music, it's fun sitting here, ages away from the RIAA, laughing, becuase they can do nothing about it, while I support deserving people and local artists.

[DGB454]

I'm not trying to be your conscience. You do whatever it let's you get away with and I will do the same.

[YogsVR4]

One of my favorite topics.

Downloading songs for free is a crime. Plain and simple.

People like to come up with all kinds of justifications; I only get a few, they don’t need any more royalties, you can hear it on the radio and a host of other excuses. The people who spout those may believe them but all they are doing is justifying what they are doing to themselves. Most people don’t want to commit crimes and are loathe admitting to themselves that they are committing one.

Is the record industry full of crooks and con men? Sure there are. Are the artist spoiled rich brats? 99% surely are. Does that make stealing right? No it doesn’t. It seems to me the fact that its easy and convenient to download things has spawned a lot of good people to believe what their doing cannot be wrong. Sad really. If you’re downloading songs that you did not pay for or do not own or is not authorized by the owner of the music (artist or distributor) then it is theft.

[2strokebloke]

Originally Posted by YogsVR4

People like to come up with all kinds of justifications; I only get a few, they don’t need any more royalties, you can hear it on the radio and a host of other excuses. The people who spout those may believe them but all they are doing is justifying what they are doing to themselves. Most people don’t want to commit crimes and are loathe admitting to themselves that they are committing one.

O.K. Yogs, please inform me as to what makes recording a song off of the radio on to a tape, so you can listen to it again, not stealing, whereas downloading a song off of the internet onto a CD is stealing.

As to stealing pens, it's not remotely the same thing. If your boss has a pen, and you take that pen - you now have that pen, and your boss does not.
If you downloaded a song, who are you depriving of that song? Nobody. Saying downloading is stealing, is like saying that copying a record to tape so you can listen to it in your car is stealing. It's like saying that going to the library and using a copying machine to copy a page out of a newspaper is stealing - it's not stealing. You have a copy, the newspaper is still there. If you actually took that newspaper, and walked out the door with it - that'd be stealing.

[TexasF355F1]

I think one thing a lot of bands forget, especially older bands, is that they got their music out their from bootlegging. And to be completely honest, of the cd's I d/l'd off the net, I wouldn't have bought them anyways. So its not like their losing any money.

[Ace$nyper]

if its wrong i don't wanta be right.

[Spec2 Girl]

Isn’t it also wrong then that some CDs you buy you can’t even play them on your computer or some car stereos because they’re trying to stop you from burning the CD. If I buy a CD I should be able to play it wherever and wherever I want to.

Also, if I have also paid for an album on Tape, then bought it on vinyl because my tape is now broken, why should I then have to pay a 3rd time to get it on CD?

[YogsVR4]

Originally Posted by 2strokebloke

O.K. Yogs, please inform me as to what makes recording a song off of the radio on to a tape, so you can listen to it again, not stealing, whereas downloading a song off of the internet onto a CD is stealing.

Hold on for a second. It is illegal.

As to stealing pens, it's not remotely the same thing. If your boss has a pen, and you take that pen - you now have that pen, and your boss does not.
If you downloaded a song, who are you depriving of that song? Nobody. Saying downloading is stealing, is like saying that copying a record to tape so you can listen to it in your car is stealing. It's like saying that going to the library and using a copying machine to copy a page out of a newspaper is stealing - it's not stealing. You have a copy, the newspaper is still there. If you actually took that newspaper, and walked out the door with it - that'd be stealing.

What you are depriving is the royalties. You can copy songs you own to your hearts content. It doesn't mean you can distribute them (or let others come and get them) to their heards content.

[YogsVR4]

Originally Posted by Spec2 Girl

Isn’t it also wrong then that some CDs you buy you can’t even play them on your computer or some car stereos because they’re trying to stop you from burning the CD. If I buy a CD I should be able to play it wherever and wherever I want to.

Also, if I have also paid for an album on Tape, then bought it on vinyl because my tape is now broken, why should I then have to pay a 3rd time to get it on CD?

Its not illegal to make alternate formats of music you own. Make Tapes, CD, MP3 8 Tracks or whatever the heck you want. You bought the music. Music you didn't buy is a different matter.


How about a car analogy then. If you're car breaks down after owning it for ten years, why should you have to go and buy another.

[DGB454]

What suprises me is how cheap honor goes for these days. 30cents?