<p>Morals have nothing to do with it. The RIAA is fighting a losing battle, and no false sense of morality will change that.</p>
<p>While the $4.5 million is absurd, especially since the person is probably just coming out of grad school and has a huge amount of debt, $30 is not proper compensation. Thats pretty much paying back what he stole, meaning that if someone does something wrong he basically just pays what he would have paid anyways. At max, you should be charged double or triple the real price of the “stolen” properties.</p>
<p>Personally, i believe that at an economic crisis like this in the US, people need music to calm themselves down and bring up their spirits. Ironically the people who need the cheering up are the people who wouldn’t be able to afford buying ridiculously overpriced CDs anyways. Downloading songs for free benefits them to get up and move on.</p>
<p>yes it is stealing. You don’t need to have lost something for it to have been stolen from you. For example, it is possible to steal an idea.</p>
<p>Rofl- under the terms of that ruling, I’d be liable for around 3 billion dollars. Thank God for rapidshare/private trackers.</p>
<p>I have some experience with the independent music industry (which comprises the majority of artists out there) and I know for a fact most of these artists make close to none from you buying their CD or their songs. I know bands that at their shows have encouraged their fans to download the music illegally since they haven’t seen a penny from its sales in their career.
Bands only get paid directly from ticket sales and radio airplay. The music is property of the record labels and any profit from it’s sale is usually tied in to their signing bonuses (which they usually have to repay) and other services that the record label provides and doesn’t actually go to the band. I’d assume all but the few huge millionaires that make up an insignificant portion of the total musician population are in the same boat whether they’re indie or major. </p>
<p>While I’m not going to say there is or isn’t anything wrong with downloading music or anything else illegally, I just wanted to address the whole you’re hurting the artist argument and point out how the system itself is hurting the artists as much as illegal downloading does if not more.</p>
<p>look why don’t they just lessen the punishments to something reasonable (like 20 bucks for an illegally downloaded song or something), and prosecute everyone they find illegally downloading? and no, it wont be that hard, they’re doing this already, just with warnings.</p>
<p>Under the max (150,000) I would be in for $330,000,000</p>
<p>Well, that’s not really fair, at least 80% of those are from non-RIAA artists/labels.</p>
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<p>I do not have a holier than thou attitude. What I have is a clear sense of right from wrong and the desire to follow it. </p>
<p>Your argument that it is OK because the artists are wealthy doesn’t stand. You also try to discredit your actions by saying the artists don’t make that much from CD sales anyway. That too is irrelevant. Either the action is right or wrong. It doesn’t matter if the work stolen was worth a penny or a million dollars. Whether it hurts the artist or not (by your own viewpoint) also doesn’t matter. Taking their work without paying is stealing. You admitted in your post it was stealing. Still, you don’t care because your desire for free work is more important than following right from wrong. I find that more sad than your act of stealing music. </p>
<p>The actions of my classmates does not determine my actions or happiness. UT is not awkward for me at all. </p>
<p>Not that is it that relevant, but yes I do drive the speed limit.</p>
<p>Fiyero is right.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t want someone stealing my artwork for free. It’s like, I leave my artwork on my desk and someone takes it and says its theirs after I created it. </p>
<p>Besides, people at UT get caught and fined for illegal downloading. LOL.</p>
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<p>All songs in the iTunes music store are, and have been for quite a while now, DRM-free.</p>
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<p>Yes, you do.</p>
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<p>That’s fantastic. You’re a model citizen and should be paraded around on a float.</p>
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<p>That’s not my argument; I was stating that much of the music downloaded is of artists who are not hurting financially, but I’m sure you didn’t vote for Obama, right…</p>
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<p>It’s entirely relevant. </p>
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<p>I dont see how it’s wrong, especially since many of the artists I listen to encourage us (fans) to DL their music. What’s wrong is the RIAA, and the joke that is the corporate music industry.</p>
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<p>Peachy. </p>
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<p>All the time? 100%? Have you ever gone over? Made an illegal turn? Crossed a double yellow line?</p>
<p>Lemme guess, you never drank underage too, right?</p>
<p>Ugh. Let’s stop feeding the ■■■■■, kiddies. We don’t need to justify ourselves to Mr. Model Citizen over here.</p>
<p>Comiclover-Music DL is not plagiarism. No one is saying that the new Kanye song is theirs just because they download it.</p>
<p>I’m not a ■■■■■. I’ve been criticized and I responded. This is probably the same reason you respond to me. </p>
<p>If the artist encourages you to download music, that would be entirely different. Until your last post, nothing of the sort had been mentioned before. I assumed you were downloading whatever you wanted. If your only downloads were from the kind of artists which you mentioned, I retract all statements made toward you and apologize. </p>
<p>I do not mean to come off as trying to make myself sound all righteous. That is hardly the case. I’m well aware of my shortcomings, of which there are many. I never said I was perfect. All I said was that taking music online without paying for it is wrong. I stand by that statement. Whether I do it personally does not determine the truth of that argument. It would only make me a hypocrite. I keep getting responses to whether I have ever broken the speed limit or drank under age, or who I voted for and so on. Have I ever speeded? Yes, I have broken the speed limit before. When I saw I drifted over, I went back to the limit. No, I didn’t drink while underage. I rarely have any drink still. How does any of this apply to the topic? </p>
<p>HisGraceFillsMe</p>
<p>I never asked anyone to justify themselves to me. This board shares opinions. I shared mine. Downloading an artist’s work without paying for it is stealing. I did not begin the criticisms, I only responded to them. I’ve received far more than I’ve dished out.</p>
<p>either way, the record labels exchange music for money. If you don’t think that the music is worth the money then don’t buy it. If you don’t think the money goes towards the artist, don’t buy it. Downloading it for free is wrong, simple as that. It’s not like you either get the song through itunes or through torrents, you have the option of not getting it at all.</p>
<p>Fiyero, to use your own words:</p>
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<p>That was an expression, not an actual request. Well done on the “gotcha journalism.”</p>
<p>oh, come on, I was just being facetious. I’m not trying to have an “I’m better than you are at witty remarks” contest.</p>
<p>It’s all good. :)</p>
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<p>Because unless you turn yourself in after speeding, you’re a hypocrite. Btw, I think all of the money I spend on concert tickets and merch justifies the downloading I do.</p>
<p>how is his being a hypocrite or not at all relevant? People are not 100% rational beings.</p>