I know that alot of people now use music downloading, me included. But last night on Fox News I read that they are going to start to go after people using the music downloading programs and even put children in jail (they said that) for stealing music. It does make sense but then again I don't think alot of us know exactly what is going on when we download an album or two. I've decieded that I'm going to try and use less and less of Kazaa and the other music downloading programs to avoid any kind of trouble. I'm just curious what are everyone elses views on music downloading?
I'm like Will... I use IRC. I ditched Kazaa a long time ago because I'd rather not take chances. I have little worries as of right now .
Ah there is nothing to worry about. I would like to see them put people in jail for downloading music. Especially kids it's not gonna happen, society has many other problems to worry about than petty music downloaders like myself.
These people that make these threats to throw people in jail also must not be too computer smart . If you're computer-smart enough, you can hide everything about your computer and make it untrackable . I'm can't wait to see the headlines... "Five year old thrown in jail for downloading an N'sync's song."
they wont throw people in jail. if they throw one in, they have to throw everybody in. and jails are already overcrowded
Got that right. I'm not worried. It won't happen. They're trying to scare us. Just use programs people hardly use like WinMx or complicated things I don't understand like IRC.
I don't know what to believe. I have gotten rid of Kazaa awhile back, due to such scares. But then again, alot of you have a point, they can't put us in jail, because if they put one, they put all of us there. I bet atleast a percentage of RIAA employee's have some P2P program on their computer and have downloaded a song or two. But, if they truly wanted to get file sharers, they would get who they wanted. Just because a program may seem complicated to some (IRC), does not mean it's not trackable to a computer. In fact, there is a warning screen when you start up IRC for the first time (I believe it's still there), that even if your registration info. is falsified, people can still trace your computer. I just know, if some authority came knocking at your door, and you knew you had crap on your computer that could get you in trouble, take a powerful magnet to your computer, and say your comp. was dropped or something and no longer functions. Then again, sup103 has a valid point, if you don't share, you have nothing to worry about. One last point, what's the big deal with this? I see some people downloading 5,000 dollars worth of illegal programs, yet there is a fuss over albums that cost 11 dollars...
I heard Kazaa is in control by UK so how are Americans able to put us in jail when the program aren't even theirs?
But Kazaa isn't breaking any laws, the users are. That's like shutting down the U.S. just for having criminals. Kazaa states in their T.O.S. some technical crap that holds them non-accountable for our actions.
Sometimes even if it might not be the program's fault, the company can still be shut down. Technically Kazaa is one of the sources for free music and it's likely that can be used against them, perhaps stating something like, the sharing of music was not stopped, yadda yadda yadda. I don't think they'll be shut down, but maybe like Napster, Kazaa might be forced to become a "charge" program where you pay a certain amount to download for a certain amount of time.
This is a interesting discussion. Alright, my views: Legally: I agree with most, unless you've got tons of songs on your computer I somehow doubt you'll get in trouble...No one really cares if you download a couple songs here and there. Morally (an issue that hasn't been touched much): Well, this is more difficult. All in all, I say let's support the bands! I don't download full albums. I'll download a few songs to see if I like a band, or download unreleased/hard to get stuff. I also have no problem with downloading albums I legally own. I would like to stress though I don't have anything against people who download full length albums or anything, many of my friends do, it's just a personal decision to help my guilty conscience.
Suing and arresting people for downloading music is senseless and stupid. Here's why: In the past year, I've downloaded close to 30 albums and over 500 mp3's. About 90% of the bands I've become to like have been through my discovery of them on the internet. Linkin Park, my favorite band, played "One Step Closer" on Muchmusic and I downloaded the rest of "Hybrid Theory" off of Napster, they became my favorite band and I've bought all their cd's and memorabilia available in my town. Finger Eleven, my second favorite band, had "First Time" and "Drag You Down" played on Muchmusic, I downloaded the rest of their "Greyest of Blue Skies" and since then I've bought all their albums. I absolutely love Cold's "Year of the Spider" and I only heard about them through the internet. the list goes on, the internet is detrimental for finding music and bands you'll go on to love. If I like an album, I'll buy it, if there's only 5 good tracks on a 15 track cd, I won't. If the RIAA misses the buying of albums because the customers are unknowing of whether an album is worth buying or not, then I guess they greatly hate customer awareness. I know I don't buy sub-par albums, only the good albums because I think the artists deserve to be supported. I've bought nearly 10cd's in the past year, around $175 - $200 worth. If they expect 17 year olds to be spending upwards of $500 a year on cd's, they're unbelievably stupid. How many times do we have to tell the RIAA, the internet is a tool for the discovery of music which leads to album sales, not a tool for the destruction of the music industry. There's bound to be cheapskates who burn and don't buy cd's, but take that out on cd burners and not mp3 file sharing. I've finished my rant, although I'm tired and that may not be very coherent.