HI all
The ethics of downloading music is not a subject that has been covered or looks to be covered in the near future, but is an area of great interest to me. Issues of ownership are integral to understanding the internet. This raises two questions: 1) if the internet is "free space", how can the of users of the internet be condemned under the law of copyright? and 2) Why is it that the public feel so much in the wrong as to fear repercussions for downloading what others, (however rightly or wrongly), have made available to us?
I recently heard someone remark that he had "sold his soul" to Limewire and the illegal downloading of music, but "felt guilty" half way through a download and cancelled it. I myself am a user of Limewire and find myself justifying my use of this site and "illegal" downloads: ‘The music industry is just trying to milk us for all we're worth; artists don’t stay around long enough to justify spending $30-odd on a cd; its just one song; its not like I’m selling it for profit; its free space!!! Isn't it?!?’ The older generation justifies the downloading of “their” music by claiming that the artists are either dead or dying and have all made their millions, whereas we (the youth of today) should support up-and-coming artists who are still trying to make their money. Hang on… aren’t we also still trying to make our millions?! The guilt that leads to these justifications by both old and young seems to me to be a phenomenon created by those who are trying to regain power over that wide expanse of freedom known as the internet. The internet has created a whole new standard of legal and moral issues: copyright laws become outdated within this context of freedom and morality takes on a new aspect as those who download are “wrong” and those who don’t are “right.” This moral standard is more a reflection of imposed authority than of cultural understanding. These comments in no way are an indication of my political leanings. However, I do feel that those in power are somewhat out of line trying to impose limits on us within a limitless society (that of the online arena).
The ethics of downloading music is not a subject that has been covered or looks to be covered in the near future, but is an area of great interest to me. Issues of ownership are integral to understanding the internet. This raises two questions: 1) if the internet is "free space", how can the of users of the internet be condemned under the law of copyright? and 2) Why is it that the public feel so much in the wrong as to fear repercussions for downloading what others, (however rightly or wrongly), have made available to us?
I recently heard someone remark that he had "sold his soul" to Limewire and the illegal downloading of music, but "felt guilty" half way through a download and cancelled it. I myself am a user of Limewire and find myself justifying my use of this site and "illegal" downloads: ‘The music industry is just trying to milk us for all we're worth; artists don’t stay around long enough to justify spending $30-odd on a cd; its just one song; its not like I’m selling it for profit; its free space!!! Isn't it?!?’ The older generation justifies the downloading of “their” music by claiming that the artists are either dead or dying and have all made their millions, whereas we (the youth of today) should support up-and-coming artists who are still trying to make their money. Hang on… aren’t we also still trying to make our millions?! The guilt that leads to these justifications by both old and young seems to me to be a phenomenon created by those who are trying to regain power over that wide expanse of freedom known as the internet. The internet has created a whole new standard of legal and moral issues: copyright laws become outdated within this context of freedom and morality takes on a new aspect as those who download are “wrong” and those who don’t are “right.” This moral standard is more a reflection of imposed authority than of cultural understanding. These comments in no way are an indication of my political leanings. However, I do feel that those in power are somewhat out of line trying to impose limits on us within a limitless society (that of the online arena).
In terms of the "illegal" use of music for one's own benefit, all that has changed is the means by which that music is made available. However, this one change has added a new dynamic to the arguments of previous generations concerning the issue of ownership, a dynamic that is at once both fascinating and frustrating.
Just a thought
Kate VN
1 comment:
Hi Kate.
The issues and ethics of online file-sharing are something I'm interested in too, and is a topic covered in more depth in FTVMS203, Technoculture and New Media, and when I sat it last, Nabeel's postgraduate Sound and Music paper.
Laurence Leissig has a number of articles online on the subject, and if you're interested I'll put up the bibliography for an essay I wrote on file-sharing and the economic models of the music industry.
- Kevin.
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