The music on my iPod is music from my CD collection or from Pandora radio. The TV that I watch online is available through Hulu. Piracy has never really been an issue for me. Although, during class the other night, I became aware of the problems that stealing intellectual property has. In my opinion, music is meant to be shared. I like learning about new music from my friends. So what if they make me a copy of their favorite CD? And Tuesday night, I learned that this simple exchange of sharing music is actually an act of piracy. When I get music from my friends, I am not buying a CD. The artist--or rather the recording company is making no profit off of me listening to their work. By sharing this music, the owner of the property--the one who created the work is not being respected for doing their job. By stealing music or downloading movies off of the internet, the person who is stealing shows no respect for the artist or actors involved.
But what about watching movies online? Streaming them digitally? I am not downloading them, so that there is a digital copy on my own computer. I am not distributing copies to others. Is streaming movies piracy as well? I think that it is still piracy but not in the same way. Let's say that I want to see a movie once. I could go to the theater and pay $12 or I can watch the movie for free online. If I watch the movie online, the people and companies that would be benefitting from my movie ticket are not able to do so. I am also not going to be influenced by the advertising that promotes the movie in the theater or the DVD release because I've already seen the movie. So the money that production companies are spending on advertising, is being wasted on me. Not only am I not helping these companies, they are losing money if I watch the movie online. So, essentially, I am still stealing from the movie companies even if I am just streaming the movies without downloading them.
Within the last five years there was a commercial that compared downloading movies and songs illegally to stealing a car or stealing a purse. And at the time I thought the commercial was a bit over the top--downloading a movie or two was really not that bad. But, with the more people download illegally, the less money is going into the entertainment economy. By forcing the entertainment industry to continuously put out money on making videos and producing songs, without putting the money back into the system, it really is like stealing a car. Intellectual property is just as valuable, even if it is not as tangible as physical property.
But what about watching movies online? Streaming them digitally? I am not downloading them, so that there is a digital copy on my own computer. I am not distributing copies to others. Is streaming movies piracy as well? I think that it is still piracy but not in the same way. Let's say that I want to see a movie once. I could go to the theater and pay $12 or I can watch the movie for free online. If I watch the movie online, the people and companies that would be benefitting from my movie ticket are not able to do so. I am also not going to be influenced by the advertising that promotes the movie in the theater or the DVD release because I've already seen the movie. So the money that production companies are spending on advertising, is being wasted on me. Not only am I not helping these companies, they are losing money if I watch the movie online. So, essentially, I am still stealing from the movie companies even if I am just streaming the movies without downloading them.
Within the last five years there was a commercial that compared downloading movies and songs illegally to stealing a car or stealing a purse. And at the time I thought the commercial was a bit over the top--downloading a movie or two was really not that bad. But, with the more people download illegally, the less money is going into the entertainment economy. By forcing the entertainment industry to continuously put out money on making videos and producing songs, without putting the money back into the system, it really is like stealing a car. Intellectual property is just as valuable, even if it is not as tangible as physical property.
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