you wouldn't steal a bag...
Friday, October 16, 2009 by B-Kool
Sure, downloading music, movies and other forms of copyrighted media for free is technically the same as stealing, but it's interesting why most people - everyday consumers, don't feel this way. We know we're getting something for free when we should be paying for it, but due to the lack of an obvious victim and the kind sentiments associated with "sharing", most people feel it's okay to turn a blind eye to such acts. As Yar described in his essay, "laws which lose thier gounding in social sentiments are liable to atrophy" which is perhaps why the present copyright laws are having a hard time controlling the free download phenomenon.
A bag is to carry items in, if it's not ours, you simply cannot put items inside. We can walk past the same window display everyday and stare at the same bag for hours and hours, but we can never use it for the purpose it was designed for. It can never be ours unless we pay for it or steal it. Stealing a bag is taking away an actual tangible item, whether from a store or from another person, the absence of an once existed bag marks the clear indiction that something is lost, a person or a store has suffered due to their loss. Most of us, hopefully, would feel the guilt associated with stealing such items. Online resources however, are intangible goods. Music is designed to be heard. It plays everywhere, on the radio, in record stores, on the street, from people's car stereos. Listening to it on the radio and listening to it on a CD differs in quality, but listening is still listening. Once we've heard it, we've heard it. We know the tune, maybe the lyrics, we can hum to it, we've enjoyed it. No paying is necessary. When I buy a CD, I can invite my friends to come over and listen to it. If I want, I can invite them everyday, then they would have the same previleges as me with regards to the CD. They will never need to buy it. Everyone would agree that my act of kindness as a friend cannot be considered a crime. Now, instead of inviting my friends over, to save the time and effort, I put the songs on the internet for them to download instead, they're enjoying the same previleges as before, but now it's considered illegal? Downloading something also differs from stealing in the sense that nothing is actually lost, you've simply made another copy of it, the original still exists. No one would turn around and say: "Who stole my mp3 file that I uploaded on the net? My mum bought me that mp3 for my birthday, can't believe someone stole it!" No such sentence will ever be uttered. People rip and upload media online to share, most of the time, most of the time for free, the uploader gains nothing from such actions, but rather it's an act of kindness to share what they believe should be watched or heard by other people. The vagueness in which my sharing became stealing is one that troubles most internet users, which is perhaps why many of us choose to ignore it. It seems necessary for the copyright laws at present to be revised to reflect the reality of this situation.
A bag is to carry items in, if it's not ours, you simply cannot put items inside. We can walk past the same window display everyday and stare at the same bag for hours and hours, but we can never use it for the purpose it was designed for. It can never be ours unless we pay for it or steal it. Stealing a bag is taking away an actual tangible item, whether from a store or from another person, the absence of an once existed bag marks the clear indiction that something is lost, a person or a store has suffered due to their loss. Most of us, hopefully, would feel the guilt associated with stealing such items. Online resources however, are intangible goods. Music is designed to be heard. It plays everywhere, on the radio, in record stores, on the street, from people's car stereos. Listening to it on the radio and listening to it on a CD differs in quality, but listening is still listening. Once we've heard it, we've heard it. We know the tune, maybe the lyrics, we can hum to it, we've enjoyed it. No paying is necessary. When I buy a CD, I can invite my friends to come over and listen to it. If I want, I can invite them everyday, then they would have the same previleges as me with regards to the CD. They will never need to buy it. Everyone would agree that my act of kindness as a friend cannot be considered a crime. Now, instead of inviting my friends over, to save the time and effort, I put the songs on the internet for them to download instead, they're enjoying the same previleges as before, but now it's considered illegal? Downloading something also differs from stealing in the sense that nothing is actually lost, you've simply made another copy of it, the original still exists. No one would turn around and say: "Who stole my mp3 file that I uploaded on the net? My mum bought me that mp3 for my birthday, can't believe someone stole it!" No such sentence will ever be uttered. People rip and upload media online to share, most of the time, most of the time for free, the uploader gains nothing from such actions, but rather it's an act of kindness to share what they believe should be watched or heard by other people. The vagueness in which my sharing became stealing is one that troubles most internet users, which is perhaps why many of us choose to ignore it. It seems necessary for the copyright laws at present to be revised to reflect the reality of this situation.