2008 Woodie Awards
Volume too loud on risks of downloading music
Scott Schuthess
Issue date: 5/3/04 Section: Viewpoint
Since the release of Napster in 1999, file sharing has exploded into pop cultures across the world. College campuses, possessing an abundance of broadband internet connections and a plethora of music hungry students, have been bastions of free downloaded media. Only in recent years has the legality of these digitized music been questioned by organizations such as the Recording Industry Association of America (www.riaa.com) and Motion Picture Association (www.mpaa.org).
These organizations use simple methods to ferret out the IPs (sort of like internet addresses) and usernames of media pirates. This information is then used to issue "cease and desist" letters on the threat of a lawsuit. Little do the "violators" know, but nearly all of these lawsuits have never seen the inside of a courtroom. It is extremely expensive for the average MP3 voyeur to pay lawyers to build a worthwhile defense against these huge companies.
These lawsuits are instead settled out of court for thousands of dollars. In fact, both the RIAA and the MPAA issue far too many cease and desist commands against college students to ever pursue them all in court. They instead succeed by spreading the idea that if you download music illegally, you will be caught and you will have to pay thousands of dollars per song for violating copyright laws.
The RIAA, MPAA, and major record labels are not the only ones who feel that file swapping should be illegal. The popular metal band Metallica even sued Napster for violating copyright laws. Other pop artists are also doing all they can to inhibit the free sharing of their music, as if some how listening to their music without paying first infringes upon their rights. However, not all artists are concerned with the money they can make off their music. Insane Clown Posse, the underground rap group widely known for wearing insane clown faces on stage, consistently encourage their fans to steal their albums right out of the record stores.
The recent release of the Grey Album by DJ Dangermouse, a mix of The Beatles's White Album instrumentals and vocals off Jay-z's Black Album are examples of when the RIAA's influence has failed to suppress the free distribution of music. On February 24, 2004 over 170 websites hosted a full copy of the Grey Album for download, a protest dubbed "Grey Tuesday" (www.greytuesday.org). Nearly all of the protesters were threatened with lawsuits by the very same organization that is threatening college students downloading MP3s across the US, the RIAA.
The leaders of the protest held that copyright was created by Congress to "promote the progress of science and the useful arts." The suppressing of art like the Grey Album violates that very purpose. The current environment of the pop music industry allows for several large record companies to dictate what music should and should not be created, and this should not be the case in the interest of free speech.
A simple solution does exist for most college students. Programs like Soulseek are ad-free, spyware-free, but most importantly anonymous file sharing programs, safe from the prying eyes of trigger happy copyright organizations. For more information on the RIAA boycott, visit www.boycott-riaa.com.
These organizations use simple methods to ferret out the IPs (sort of like internet addresses) and usernames of media pirates. This information is then used to issue "cease and desist" letters on the threat of a lawsuit. Little do the "violators" know, but nearly all of these lawsuits have never seen the inside of a courtroom. It is extremely expensive for the average MP3 voyeur to pay lawyers to build a worthwhile defense against these huge companies.
These lawsuits are instead settled out of court for thousands of dollars. In fact, both the RIAA and the MPAA issue far too many cease and desist commands against college students to ever pursue them all in court. They instead succeed by spreading the idea that if you download music illegally, you will be caught and you will have to pay thousands of dollars per song for violating copyright laws.
The RIAA, MPAA, and major record labels are not the only ones who feel that file swapping should be illegal. The popular metal band Metallica even sued Napster for violating copyright laws. Other pop artists are also doing all they can to inhibit the free sharing of their music, as if some how listening to their music without paying first infringes upon their rights. However, not all artists are concerned with the money they can make off their music. Insane Clown Posse, the underground rap group widely known for wearing insane clown faces on stage, consistently encourage their fans to steal their albums right out of the record stores.
The recent release of the Grey Album by DJ Dangermouse, a mix of The Beatles's White Album instrumentals and vocals off Jay-z's Black Album are examples of when the RIAA's influence has failed to suppress the free distribution of music. On February 24, 2004 over 170 websites hosted a full copy of the Grey Album for download, a protest dubbed "Grey Tuesday" (www.greytuesday.org). Nearly all of the protesters were threatened with lawsuits by the very same organization that is threatening college students downloading MP3s across the US, the RIAA.
The leaders of the protest held that copyright was created by Congress to "promote the progress of science and the useful arts." The suppressing of art like the Grey Album violates that very purpose. The current environment of the pop music industry allows for several large record companies to dictate what music should and should not be created, and this should not be the case in the interest of free speech.
A simple solution does exist for most college students. Programs like Soulseek are ad-free, spyware-free, but most importantly anonymous file sharing programs, safe from the prying eyes of trigger happy copyright organizations. For more information on the RIAA boycott, visit www.boycott-riaa.com.