Discussion of Internet File-Sharing

Essay by sedentaryeliteHigh School, 11th gradeA, March 2004

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Internet file sharing is a problem that has developed through the years as the Internet matures. Computer owners can now put a DVD in their computer and distribute it across the internet. In response to this type of "sharing," record companies have sued, claiming that consumers are "stealing." Neither word is correct in that situation because sharing is giving away part of a whole and stealing is taking the whole of something. This calls for a new response to the distribution of materials such as music, videos and software through data-based means.

Programs such as Napster and Kazaa, are ridiculed for illegally giving away music and other digitized items. The conflict lies in the technology that allows a computer to send copies of songs to other computers on the internet. The record companies say that this allows people to steal their product from them. However, when a user downloads a song and enjoys it, the record company still owns the song and still has in its care each and every copy of the song it produced.

The record company loses nothing when another song is download.

The record industry will tell you otherwise. It has claim losses in the millions due to file sharing. However, the record industry should not fear file sharing. With the majority of the nation on dial up, there are only small percentage of people who have enough bandwidth or time to download music. An even smaller percentage download videos and software. If these were the only factors that affected internet file sharing, it might remain stable as it is. Unfortunately, the latest updates to the software have eliminated the ability of the computer to share. This is extremely detrimental to the network. When everyone uploads, everyone can download. Hence the importance of uploading.

The refreshing...