A few weeks ago my brother bought a new CD at Best Buy. This
action was apparently a very strange phenomenon. A co-worker of his
asked in a strange, almost belittling tone of voice, why he
actually paid for his music. This fellow employee didn’t
criticize how expensive the CD was or that my brother was
supporting a profit-hungry company, but simply that the music was
purchased when it could have been obtained for free.
When the Recording Industry Association of America recently
announced that it would bring the war on music piracy to the actual
individuals who participate in illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file
sharing, suing the users instead of corporations that provide the
tools, I began to think about pirated music for the first time. The
longer I thought about it, the more I began to believe that the
RIAA is doing the right thing.
Granted, filing lawsuits against music file swappers, most of
whom are teenagers and college students, will not solve all of the
music industry’s financial woes. However, it will serve as a
much-needed wake-up call to my generation.
We need to be roused from our daydream of free music. You would
be hard-pressed to find a personal computer on any university
campus that does not have some P2P program (Kazaa, Direct Connect,
etc.) installed on it. And what do you get when you throw college
students, high-speed internet connections and file-sharing software
into the mixing pot? Hard drives full of downloaded music and
movies.
Of course, none of us spend the time to actually consider the
implications of our actions. In fact, most people are in denial
about the legality of file sharing. For example, Tom Rogers, an
avid file-sharer who apparently thinks of himself as a modern day
Robin Hood, recently told USA Today, “There are those who
think that peer-to-peer is equivalent to bank robbery, but I
disagree. Most of my activity involves uploading and getting a
satisfying feeling that I am sharing something beautiful with
friends and a community of music lovers.” This attitude is
far from rare.
But that “something beautiful” is created by
hardworking artists ““ and their expectation to be paid for
what they create is not unreasonable. If musicians don’t get
some form of monetary compensation for their product, there will be
no one left to create the music you and your friends love so much.
File-swappers are not bringing about an artistic revolution by
forcing the recording industry into bankruptcy and returning the
music to the people. Although the starving artist is something of a
romantic notion, it is simply not realistic.
I’m all for eliminating some middlemen. The industry is
top-heavy and overvalued. It doesn’t take a genius to realize
that with a new internet-based distribution model, the retail cost
of a CD can be reduced substantially ““ with no loss of
profits. But if the alternative ““ obtaining songs for free
over the internet ““ still exists, do you think the average
P2P user will start paying for their music and illegal
file-swapping will just end overnight?
I’m just a little too cynical to believe in that scenario.
Too many people haven’t paid for music in years and
aren’t about to start now. For example, since the RIAA
announced their plans, P2P systems have reported an upsurge in
users. Brilliant marketing strategy? No. But once the RIAA gets
into full swing and these users realize they can be prosecuted and
fined, the situation will hopefully change.
Of course, I’m no better than anyone else when it comes
down to it. I’ve listened to my share of downloaded music.
But at least I recognize now that it’s wrong.
I may not have all the answers on how to improve the situation,
but I do know something has to be done. All I ask is that the next
time you download a song on Kazaa, you consciously acknowledge that
it is illegal. It won’t bring any profit to the artist, but
at least it’s a step in the right direction. And when the day
of reckoning arrives, a day the RIAA understandably wants to get
here as soon as possible, don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Or myself.
Vaszari is a third-year undeclared student.