So I think I'll just start a flame war. [flame]

I saw on the news today that there are several factions that would like to cripple technology so there could be no more free (Music, movie, etc) downloading any more.
Many people disagree with this claiming it is infringing on their freedom of info, or some other excuse. People also say this is not stealing.
I personally believe they [b]SHOULD[/b] stop free downloading, and yes, I also believe it is a form of theft.
Now before you go sending me death threats, hear me out. Think about it, these people are making these items for profit. Free downloading without the owners permission is theft. Also, it is destroying our economy. These acts take away from the retail stores, etc. If you are doing this, you are unknowingly causing a bad chain reaction that affects you. Poor retail sales sends shockwaves down the food chain. With poor retail sales, no need to use as many trucks for shipping, no need for store personal (Your jobs, get the hint?), etc.
I know I sound like an olger, but, [b]nothing[/b] comes for free and eventually, you will have to pay dearly. I personally believe that the expense will eventually be the economy and your jobs.
Free downloading = no profits = no ambition = no market = imminent downfall
Big deal, you have to pay for a song, but it's better than eventually paying with your livelyhood. Besides, you will be creating a good market that will come back to you. Put yourself in the store owners, artist's, etc shoes and think about it.
Trading a bit now and then with your own "physical" circle of friends is one thing, but these international free downloading services are a hard hit.

Just remember, [b]"Nothing" comes for free.[/b]

BTW, [b]"Those artists are so filthy rich, so it doesn't matter"[/b] isn't a good excuse as they aren't the only one's effected by this.

[flame] [flame] [flame] [flame] [flame] [flame]

As a representative of Betsy Ross' heirs.......All I want to know is, where are my clients royalties?

Just so you know sid, I have made the same argument time and time again.

That's:   2 to 0 for ending the freebies (unless marketed as such).

So are you telling me that the music industry is going to collapse? Do you really believe that because of Napster that musicians aren't going to make any money? Are you against people also using the REC button on their VCR since it is the same thing?

The world is changing and if you don't keep up you'll only be left behind.

I'm not saying that it is either right or wrong, I'm just saying that it [b]is[/b], and that nobody will ever be able to stop it now that it has started. I download songs, but I also still buy CD's.

Maybe some of these bands should get off their asses and tour.  Any band in it for the money, sucks anyways.

I never said it could be stopped, I'm just stating that dishonesty will be the imminent undoing.
This effects more than just the entertainment industry, the wave will hit in many areas. It will effect the shipping industry, the retail industry, etc.

Look at the big picture.  

Economic fact: the music industry is suffering from an artificial increase in supply due to free MP3 trading. This has "dropped the price" in a manner of speaking.
Question: Why did the artificial supply create itself?
My answer: Because the value of artists personal productions was overly inflated beyond it's true value. Whenever this discrepancy happens, a larger black market is created. The more out of whack the price and perceived value are, the greater the black market. Think about it-if CD's cost $1 apiece at WalMart, would as many people be stealing MP3's???
My emotional reaction is to let the artists bleed. 9 out of 10 are limousine liberals that I wouldn't care to associate with anyway. The effect on the economy will be nill. Other items and jobs will fill in the gaps. Capitalism is great that way.
That said, the ramifications for redefining intellectual property is rather interesting. When is a copyrighted or patented items (such as songs) format changed enough, that it is no longer a duplicate?

fact: when napster was in full swing cd sales were at a record high

Most of the money made from record sales is never seen by any artists, and in fact very few "make" money from record sales at all.  If you are truly concerned about artists, I'd suggest you help the ones who sell music directly instead of lining the RIAA's pockets.  

Even more fun is the recent release that the RIAA did blaming "free music" sites for the decline in CD sales.  Hmm...downturn in the economy usually leads to lower luxuries spending (ie, cd's movies, etc).  Of course, that has nothing to do with the drop in CD sales, it's all about the evil h4x0rs downloading and burning music from the internet.

Well, it is only an issue when you downloaded instead of buying.

In my case and many others, we simply cannot afford to pay $500 for a piece of software, etc...so I download it. If it wasn't available online, I still wouldn't have bought it, so the software industry didn't lose any money.

The fact is if the industry insists on jacking prices through the roof, they are not going to be selling. For example, if I could get AutoCAD for $50 or even $100, I might have considered buying it instead of downloading it. Instead it costs $3,295.00.

I don't have $3,295 to blow on a piece of software for personal use. Now, if I was a business then it'd be a different matter.

Businesses are the biggest buyers and will always use lisenced software. Let me put it this way, I have been into CAD as a hobby since 1994. But, with the price of AutoCAD I would have never been able to afford to buy it. But, now I can download it for free and use it all I want.

The reason they make the prices so high is because businesses have to use their software. They know they'll lose some hobbyists who can not afford the software but, they make up for it by charging the businesses so much.

CD's cost what? $15-18 in retail stores ? Only about one dollar of that actually goes to the artists. If anything the music industry is giant leach on the artists. As far as the arguement that it hurts the economy bec people buy less CD's, the same thing happens whenever a new product replaces an old one and people don't have to buy it anymore or as frequently.

Who cares??? 90% of the time, if it's on a major label, it's pre-packaged crap not worthy of pissing on. The other worthy 10% is usually a re-issue of older stuff, heh.

There are REAL bands out there making music without concern for teeny boppers and charts nd blah blah blah. They will give up a few mp3's for free and usually demos if you write and ask them. Rock stars can go F.O.A.D.

the last album I downloaded was the new No Doubt album
I bought it 2 weeks ago, and I'm going to see them in concert in April
so some people really do download it to preview it before buying

Yeah, I'll bet the people whining about music sharing never used their VCRs to tape a TV show, either.

Me? I'm not really into the whole online music sharing thing. But I don't really see how it's much different than making a copy of a tape for your friends, which probably all of us have done.

I'm waiting to get a DVD burner so I can start downloading movies. [:)]