Illegal Downloads: Do You Do It?
Jan 22nd, 2009 by Nut
By francis-gt
A few months ago I wrote a post about how to listen to music for free on the Internet. For the most part, I wanted to stick to legal options, so I talked about Seeqpod, Pandora, and iTunes.
I did mention illegal downloads at the end because they felt like the elephant in the room the whole time I was writing the post. After all, the music industry is claiming that 95% of all music downloads are illegal. That’s a lot.
I also wrote a post about watching movies and TV shows for free: it was mostly about Hulu and how convenient (and free and legal) it is.
But for millions of people, these options don’t come close to the cost and convenience of simply downloading what they want, when they want it, as much as they want to. The Internet and the technology that is out there has made it too easy to get what you want without having to pay for it. But is that a good thing?
You read about all these people who have downloaded songs illegally getting taken to court and it’s pretty frightening. Regular people just like me and you are going through these awful times because they downloaded Oops I Did it Again. Some of them had no idea it was illegal.
You would think the prospect of being hauled into court would be enough to discourage people from downloading content illegally, but it looks like people don’t care. We want the cheapest price and if it’s out there for free we will do what it takes to get it.
The other issue is that it’s so easy. You don’t have to be a hacker or have access to the Internet underground. The websites that allow you do all this are in plain view. It’s gotten to the point that people think it’s OK to do it. If it isn’t legal, wouldn’t these places be shut down by now?
What’s the answer? How can we get artists to get the money they deserve for the work they’ve done and also make it cheap and easy to get what we, as consumers want?
I think the first step is iTunes. Look at how easy it is to download and pay for stuff. It’s so easy that most people that buy iPods for the first time think that’s the only way of getting music. And that means they’re paying for it. By making it so convenient and easy for people, they’ve gotten them to pay 99 cents for each song they want. I think that’s great.
Downloading stuff illegally is always going to be around, but eventually it needs to be controlled a little bit more. If 95% of music downloads are illegal right now, how are record companies and movie studios going to stay in business?
My wife and I never illegally download materials but know several family members and friends who do. I don’t agree with their actions but figure it is their life and they can be responsible for their own actions. I personally feel that illegal downloads will just come back to get you someday.
I use to download a few songs from Morpheus and Limewire… but now I am one of the 5% who actually pays for music downloads. I use Napster. At $15 a month I get to download, burn CDs and transfer to my IPOD. It’s real nice.
I wonder if they would be able to get a handle. As soon as one site is reprimanded, 10 more sites go up. It would prove to be difficult!
$15/month isn’t bad at all. I’ve heard good things about Rhapsody too. But committing to another monthly bill is not easy for me…
What if someone posted your content on illegal download sites and you lost your income? This attitude is sickening to the artists who write the creatives that make the internet roll. Right now you are promoting a scheme to download and modify author articles and take the author’s bio box off against terms you agree to when you go to those sites. You and Greg’s Blog Success in case it slips your mind as to what I am talking about. IT IS STEALING. And it does not have to be done to be successful. you are lazy if you do that. Jack, you just keep seeming sleazier and sleazier as time goes on. I imagine you’ll get caught and shushed by the search engines soon, of not the authorities. The authors and article sites are already onto you guys. To teach newbies this way of operating is wrong and you know it. Now hand off YOUR content for free if it is so benign. Take down YOUR pay pages. Now! I thought not…
David: I think you’re missing the point of the post. It was more to poll people to find out how many do it. Am I saying everyone should do it? No. The bigger point I was trying to make is that Apple has already made paying for digital music the norm. With iTunes, people that would never even be able to figure out how to illegally download a song are paying a $1 left and right and that’s a good thing.