Argumentitive Essay on the RIAA/File-Sharing Controversy

Essay by dementiaHigh School, 11th gradeA+, May 2004

download word file, 2 pages 4.3

The DMCA, which is an acronym for The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, was signed into law by president Clinton on October 28, 1998. It implements various copyright and intellectual property standards and applies them to digital media. The act was controversial from the start; drawing tremendous support from the entertainment and recording industries (RIAA), yet heavily criticized by academics, organizations, and others who saw the potential consequences of such an act.

In the last few years, the Recording Industry Association of America has observed a decline in CD sales. Instead of chalking it up to a national economic resection, the RIAA has singled out file sharing as the cause. They have now resorted to filing lawsuits against individuals who share music files online. This has only heightened criticism of the RIAA, and some of the ISPs that were forced to give up their clients' identities are now suing on grounds of invasion of privacy.

Generally speaking, artists, specifically those who are signed by the major recording corporations of the United States, aren't struggling just to pay for food to eat. The most popular artists are inherently among the highest paid, and are quite wealthy.

Mp3's are generally not as high quality as CD music

The overwhelming majority of those available over Kazaa have a bit rate of 128Kbs. To achieve true quality sound one requires a bit rate of at least 192 Kbs; very few songs at this rate are available through Kazaa. File sharing has its place.

Music, like all forms of art, should be free to the masses.Those who download music are not freeloaders; they are fans.

It's not going away.

You can't beat it. Fighting it just hurts everyone; artists, industry, and consumers.

Accept it.

Like the VCR, or perhaps a more accurate...