Ethical Debates on Music Sharing

Ethical Debates on medicine SharingTo file percent or non to file sh ar? That is the question. Should disengage symphony off the internet be legal? Who is in the right- Napster or the practice of medicine persistence? T present atomic number 18 some of the topics I hoped to discuss when I invited four journalists to my house to debate the controversial emersion of online medicinal drug.Ding-dong Uh-oh, I think, wiping my hands on a paper towel. They mustiness be here early. Its six-thirty, my guests atomic number 18nt due to scram until seven, and I am already a half-hour stinkpot. The lobsters be as yet boiling on the stove, the unshapely potatoes are rock-hard and my spinach salad lies in pieces entirely over the kitchen floor. Things arent off to lots(prenominal) a good start.I am supposed to be hosting a sm completely, informal discussion tonight with a few journalists. The topic of the gathering concerns the recent legal uproar rough online music organizatio ns such as Napster, Morpheus and Kazaa. I charter invited a variety of large number some of whom entertain clashing opinions. I am run intoing forward to a het and intellectual discussion which give be good because I am planning on writing a book on the defer of online music. I havent decided yet whose side I am on the music industry or the internet music providers. Hopefully, tonights discussion go forth provide me with some insight as to which side to stand on. Or maybe, I wont have to choose a sidewho knows?As I walk to the front door, I joint issuet help entirely feel scarce a scant(p) bit anxious, still frenzied at the identical measure. I wonder who it iswho had the nerve to be fifteen minutes early? I think to myself. I open the out(a)standing oak door to find Tobey Grumet, a journalist from Popular mechanics magazine.Hows it going? he asks casually as he walks through the entryway. Its dainty to finally meet you. I say. I cant help however stare at him. I had heard that he was good looking, however geez He has shoulder-length blonde hair that he has pulled back into a ponytail. He has chiseled features, scarcely not too chiseled. He is wearing colorize tweed pants that are only slightly baggy, a melanise woolen sweater and a hemp necklace. Wow, nice place, he remarks as he walks into my dining room. Do you own this house?Yeah, I do.. I reply, shaking my head to get out of my trance. He follows me into the kitchen, and, seeing the secern that it is in, offers to help me get ready. Its a good thing I got here startle. I dont think that Michael Miller would appreciate this he remarks as he is chopping up a tomato for the salad. That guy is a total corpo place pushover he continues, his chopping acquiring a little bit much intense.I smile politely. I want to be completely just tonight, and I try very hard not to let what Tobey is look affect my opinion of Michael Miller, a journalist a PC Magazine. We bat in silence for clo sely ten more minutes. By the meter the doorbell rings again, the only thing left to do is course the water out of the potato pot. Thank you so much for all your help, I exclaim as I walk to serve up the door. You are a lifesaverNo problem Tobey shouts after me. Who should be at the door, plainly Michael Miller. Nice to meet you he says to me in a weighed go through manner. He is a short, thin man of some 45, with graying hair. His gray Armani guinea pig looks a tad bit too astronomical on him. Goodness, Mr. Miller, I exclaim. You are devising me feel standardized a bum in my jeans and turtleneck Please, he replies, I apologize for the way Im dressed. You must acquit me I just came from a journalists convention slashtown. I didnt have time to change.No worries, I assure him. One by ace, they all arrive Brian Smithers and Margaret Popper. We chat informally for a few minutes in the resume over bourbon. I am in the main quiet, making mental observations of the ship can al my guests treat each other. For the most part, they seem to be enjoying each others company. even out Tobey seems to be getting along with Michael Miller.Next, my guests are all seated eyepatch I bring out the food. Our conversation starts out very formal. Then, I bring out the big question So, does any mavin have any thoughts on the new online music providers like MUSICNET?There is a short silence. My guests look at their plates, as if thinking about the best way to answer the question. I know all of them are thinking hard about the question being journalists to major technology magazines, this kind of issue is a major obsession with them.It was finally Michael Miller who breaks the ice. Well, he says, putting down his fork, I think its obvious that the Napsters of the world were breaking the law and chisel legitimate musicians out of m atomic number 53y.Wait a second, protests Tobey. Dont you think its a little bit unfair to say that? Its not like the musicians arent gettin g profuse money anyways. And it isnt the musicians who are getting gypped, its the multi-million dollar music companies like BMG.The hearty issue isnt about money, its more about the reputations of musicians, says Margaret Popper, a journalist at Business Week. She tucks her short brown bob cut back behind her ears. Doesnt it concern anyone here that emancipate online music allows lot to essentially prevue albums? close people wont spoil an album just for one song if they can listen to it beforehandhand for at large(p). These online music providers are change to a complete decrease in album gross sales.Look, says Brian Smithers, you are all missing the point. Free online music is about more than just getting music. Did you ever stop to think that independent musicians use these providers to get out in that respect? It is a fabulous resource for people who arent affiliated with the music industry giants like EMI and BMG.I sit back and watch interested. So far, Ive got tw o for free online music, two against it. I ask another direct question. Do you think it should be legal to create and overlap music files online for free?Again, there is a slight pause. Brian Smithers raises his shaven head and replies, Well, yes, absolutely. I mean, think about it. You are already paying for internet service. wherefore shouldnt the music be free? The internet is a place where everyone can come together and share things. It is a community. It should be free.No, snaps Michael Miller, the music that is shared online is part of an industry. An industry has a major goal to make a lot of money. How are industries supposed to make any money, and keep the sparing going, if people can get music for free? It is cheating them out of money.Brian looks directly at Miller with a glare in his eyes. His supercilium ring glints in the light. This is exactly what I am talking about. muckle who are obsessed with corporate America. Well, I hate to break it to you, but life isnt all about corporations. Its the little people who matter too.Whoa, hold water on there partner exclaims Miller. I am not suggesting that. precisely when something is copyrighted, by law that copyright cannot be broken. Its a legal thing.As the night wears on, the conversation grows more and more heated. My guests remain stubborn and stick to their original points until it is time for them to go. As the last car drives off down the street, I head to the kitchen to wash dishes. My mind starts to wander.Napster launched in early 1999. It was the first of its kind the idea and technology for sharing music files online had never been daydream of before. (Brown) It quickly became wildly popular after all, what music listener could bespeak with free music? Soon after its emergence, several other Napster copy-cats came onto the scene. overly soon after its launch, the Recording Industry Association of America do Napster its public enemy number 1 (Brown). Napster was the first to be spend a penny with claims of illegality by the music industry. According to Janelle Brown in her article on www.salon.com, bands such as Metallica complained that they were being cheated out of copyright money, and they claimed that CD sales were dropping. The Supreme judiciary ultimately decided that the music industry was fabricate to demand that Napster shut down (Brown). One by one, the music industry and the courts put a stop to all free online music. Napster wanna-bes continue to emerge, but they will be brought to court sooner or later and secure the same fate as Napster. Although the ruling has been made final, there are still many activists who continue to argue the validity of free online music.My guests on both sides had brought up valid points. But in order to publish my book, I realize I would have to seize a side. This was not a black and white issue. I think about the argue sides. I definitely agree with Michael Miller about the legalities of free online music. Copyrights are protected under the law. But, on the other hand, it is very difficult to admonisher what goes onto the internet. There are plenty of things on the internet that are purportedly protected under copyright laws, but they are still there and can be accessed for free. No one is bothering to go to the Supreme Court over these things. I dont think that it should be different for music. Additionally, Margaret Poppers point that free online music hurts musicians reputations is very hard to swallow for me. I dont regard that big name bands like Metallica care about their reputations as much as they care about milking as much money as they can. The same goes for companies like EMI and BMG. Brian Smithers had brought up an interesting point about the internet being a community. I think about how this remark could potentially match to my book. The idea that the internet is increasingly replacing traditional social settings has forever and a day been a topic of major interest to me. I find it charming how much things can change over time, yet not actually change. People are still communicating with each other and combat-ready in a community, but many have found a different medium for doing so the internet. Instead of sitting around in a coffee shop discussing the latest popular album that everyone just has to buy now people can congregate on the internet. Most online file-sharing sites have a place where you can talk to people and share your opinions on the music.The more I think about it, I also like the idea of being equal to(p) to preview an album before I actually decide to buy it. There are a lot of albums out there that, in my opinion, only have one good song on them. I dont want to be throwing cardinal dollars down the drain if I can save that money by realizing beforehand that the album might not be very good. I dont think that this is the case a lot of the time. Most likely people will preview an album and then decide that they really like it, so they will go out and buy it. If anything, being able to preview an album is a good thing because it puts pressure on mainstream musicians and record companies to produce the finest work they can. Most songs on an album are filler songs, that is they are there simply to take up berth on the album, and arent usually very good.Ive come to the conclusion that I will write my book on the advantages of online music file-sharing.Before I started this project, I really didnt have strong feelings either way about online file-sharing. I have used free sharing, such as Kazaa and now calcium oxide Wire, but I never stopped to think about what I was doing. I did have more of a bias towards regarding online file-sharing, but mostly because it allowed me to download music for free.I also never knew very much about the Napster court case. To me, that was the defining moment of sort of the end of free music downloads. I knew that Napster was going to not be free anymore, but I didnt know why. Now I know the specifics of the case, and I favor Napsters side. As an avid music lover, and a consumer, I think I have the right to listen to music for free before I go out and buy it. It might decrease CD sales by a small percentage, but the music industry is still huge. And perhaps putting musicians on the spot by listening to their songs for free and then deciding whether or not to buy their album is a good thing. It puts more pressure on them to spend time making their music as good as it possibly can be.I think that the most compelling argument for me was Tobey Grumet. He argues that the controversy, although it is claimed to be about reputations, is more about money. This is absolutely true the more you think about it. Many little band names do not have a problem with free file sharing. It is the very popular bands write under big label names, like Metallica, that are causing an uproar. I dont see how their songs being on Napster is harmful to their reputation. If anyth ing, its good because it means that people like their songs. It doesnt harm their reputations as musicians it more than likely helps it and allows them to be recognized as a very influential band in the archives of modern rock music.My sources, I think, were all very legitimate. They all came from magazines that our library subscribes to. Salon.com is most likely biased towards free online file sharing, but the info that I got from them was purely fact-based, like when Napster was launched and so forth. I think that I got a good variety of journalists opinions on the issue of online file-sharing. Each of them had to take an opinion on the subject because it is part of their job. And, for the most part, I dont believe there was any kind of prior incentive to their taking one side or the other. Each of them has an extensive technological background and I think they looked at the issue pretty objectively.I learned a lot about online music from this project. I never realized what an fundamental part of the technology community it plays. It is fun to download free music, rate it, and perhaps even discuss it with fellow music lovers. And it is convenient and penny-wise to be able to check out albums before you decide to buy them. My final decision is that online music is a positive aspect of the internet that I hope, somehow, will continue to remain free and entertain music lovers through the means of the internet.