Illegal Downloading Survey Results
Remember when illegal downloading of music was all over the news and teenagers were being charged with fines because of excessive downloading? For some reason those stories have dropped out of the public eye. I wonder if that is because it is so rampant, it is difficult and near impossible to punish everyone.
But I recently came across survey software results that found that teens are less likely to download illegally if they knew and understood the laws and regulations against it. 49% of the teenagers surveyed said they were not aware of the laws regarding illegal downloading. And only 11% (between 7th and 10th grade) said they clearly understood the laws.
If they are so worried about it, maybe they should start a full-scale campaign to teach teenagers those laws.
Some facts about me:
1) I enjoy music
2) I ‘rip’ CDs that I own to my iPod
3) I have NEVER downloaded music from the ‘net, legal, illegal or otherwise because the quality is dubious and the potential for fines/imprisonment are a strong deterrent
Having said this, I find myself in a moral dilemma and am looking for opinions.
Let’s say I purchased a cassette of the SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER soundtrack back in 1978 after the movie came out. Having played it a million times in my childhood, I still have that same cassette. The music was/is paid for. So what is to prevent me from recreating that tracklist on my iPod with a borrowed CD of the same soundtrack? Is it an evolution- of-format issue? As Tommy Lee Jones observed in the movie MEN IN BLACK, do I really need to go out and buy the Beatles’ WHITE ALBUM all over again?
More to the point, if the RIAA came knocking on my door demanding to inspect my iPod, can they still sue me for possessing crystal-clear digital files even though I have an album, 8-track or cassette covering each and every title?
Products like Ion Software’s analog-to-digital turntables and sound-cleaning programs make the issue even murkier; from what source did that digital file really originate?
Assuming the RIAA had no case because I owned some iteration of every tune on my iPod, this would then allow me to go out and buy used music. My CD library has grown substantially on $1 and $2 discs people are dumping in droves as they go completely digital. Pushing the limits of my hypothesis, what’s to prevent me from just picking up cassette equivalents for next to nothing to cover future burns from friends’ CDs?
Can my conscience be clear or am I crossing a legal barrier? Again, I LEGITIMATELY OWN THE MUSIC…OR DON’T I?
Please feel free to comment!