SHARING NOT STEALING
by markjut, cub-editorialist for CVN
There is no reason to me why file/music-sharing should be illegal. To me it's like
swapping CDs and tapes. The writers don't lose anything what so ever. They gain publicity. But the producers and companies who bought the music certainly do lose money as they "say" they don't make enough sales.
File sharing is not as Britney Spears said "going in a music shop and stealing a CD." How can you compare that? When a music/file sharing first came out, every large computer company was praising it, but look what they're saying now. Computer companies praised it as they thought that this was a way to make money by making these types of programs and also it would bring more people onto the World Wide Web, which could bring them more money. Record companies say that it is stealing and it should be treated like any other crime.
Record companies have recently been suing people who have been doing this, most of them in there late teens. I would like to see more websites that allow you to download the tracks for a small price. After all the costs of distribution and media are far less for the Internet. This is obviously not going to happen because of giants like kazaa, and many others. Although an interesting new analog solution now exists for downloading to TVs, that apparently is a free exception to the current laws. So I think all we can do is just allow it to happen, watch the craziness and complain that the record labels are rich enough anyway...Personal opinion: it's like Robin Hood. The Internet should be free!
