any changes to this???

[scooterj5]

I don't know much about the internet and technical stuff and so on, so can someone tell me if there is anything that needs changing in my assingment. It's 600-700 words on the ethics and social impacts of copyrighted music.


The ethics of copyrighted music

It was inevitable that the technological revolution would lead to many important social and ethical issues. One of these is music piracy. Today, through smaller file sizes and faster internet connections, any man, woman or child with a modem can download MP3 music files in minutes. People with access to cable or DSL can download songs faster than they can play them! The reduction in price of CD copiers means that people can download music files and ‘burn’ them onto CDs. Soon, we should have instant access to any music (as well as video, image or document) file imaginable, but is this a good thing? Is this ethically and socially acceptable?

There are two schools of thought. Firstly, there are those who are in generally in favour of MP3 sharing. These people say that applications such as Morpheus do not harm real-CD purchases and actually increase sales. However, proponents of this do conclude that it is unethical to sells copied CDs for profit. The gist of the argument is that MP3s are free advertising and that people should be allowed to ‘try before they buy,’ and that downloading music on the Internet is no more morally reprehensible that recording songs off the radio. Small time musicians, who previously could only get promotion on local radio, now can achieve worldwide exposure, quickly and at a low cost. Furthermore there are those people who may not buy music anyway and are not adversely affecting anybody by downloading MP3s. If people did not buy CDs anymore, then artists could not afford to release CDs to supply the file sharing system in the first place!

The second, more conservative, camp says that downloading MP3s in plain breach of copyright laws and is immoral. These people say that those who can afford a computer and internet connections are the demographic that can afford to buy CDs, but find it cheaper to download them. Also, statistics from a previously popular MP3 program, Napster, showed that out of thousands of downloads, only 8 songs were from unestablished artists. Reports of statistics for CD sales have been inconsistent—some saying that overall sales have increased or stayed steady since the explosion of file sharing, while others say that sales have decreased.

There are many social issues concerned with the MP3 revolution and music piracy. With current technology, file sharing is almost impossible to stop. In a lengthy court trial, Napster was shut down, but users have simply migrated to new programs, such as Morpheus or Kazaa. Also, laws on digital music are ineffective as they are ‘cross-jurisdictional.’ The Internet is a worldwide network, and laws in one country cannot completely control it. The effect of music piracy is reduced sales, which results in a higher cost of CDs for honest consumers, who are being punished for those who are irresponsibly pirating music. Also, if companies are losing money through piracy, they will have to lay off employees, which is a very serious social issue. The only people that can actually stop music piracy are the users, who need to realise that piracy does not just harm large corporations, but can ultimately harm ordinary people’s liveliness.

However, it is not just the users that have ethical and social responsibilities. Shutting down Napster is no substitute for competitive pricing and fair previewing of music. Major record companies should not try to bully consumers, as this will only result in increased resentment with the record companies and ultimately increased piracy and lower sales. The record companies should try to have some sort of online preview system, to enable consumers to preview music without being threatened with fines and imprisonment.


Perhaps the major reason that music piracy is such a controversial issue is that files are not physically stolen. It might seem simple like a simple question, but what is ‘stealing?’ Current laws are ambiguous and open to interpretation with regard to digital music. Most people have no ethical concerns with downloading MP3s if they cannot afford, or would not otherwise buy the CD. However, there is no way to legally distinguish between those who are legitimately using the system and those who are downloading MP3s, who would otherwise buy the CD. Clearly, there are no laws that can be written that are better for society than the laws of ‘right and ‘wrong’ that are embedded in our conscience.

[Hales233]

looks good to me scooter.