People who download music and videos using peer-to-peer file sharing don't think that what they are doing is illegal, but according to the government, it is. Downloading files on the internet by anyone, including children, should not be tolerated. Millions of people are doing it and it's hurting the music and movie industry by the billions. The government should make more of an effort to put an end to file sharing between computer pirates.
Downloading files illegally takes money away from the recording artists and the film industry. Musical groups trying to make a career in the music industry would like people to buy their music so they can make a profit. With consumers downloading songs instead of purchasing CD's, they are taking money that hard working musicians deserve. Big recording artists make a lot of money, but illegal file sharing hurts them and the music industry. Because of these pirates, there has been a decline from 693 million CD's sold in 2002 to 687 million CD's sold in 2003 (Maier 29-31).
English: Rally in Stockholm, Sweden, in support of...
free rock music download - dream player by danoson...
Logo of the file sharing software SnoopstarPirates don't only download music, they also download movies. There are between 400,000 and 600,000 movies swapped each day (Grossman 60-67). These people are infringing on major copyright laws and are stealing money from directors of movies, actors, and film studios, along with the music artists.
Many individuals who download music and movies do not even know they are committing a crime. They believe they're just innocent people obtaining music for their own collection, but they are actually breaking copyright laws. The government has a new law that bans the use of file-sharing, but it is not being enforced. The pirates who know that they are acting illegally by getting music through file-sharing software such as Kazaa or Morpheus, know that they won't get caught because...