The Clackamas print., October 29, 2003, Page 3, Image 3

O pinion
O ctober 29, 2003
T he C lackamas P rint • 3
FACE OFF
Guiltless sharing or blatant pit^C^
Music should be available
at aft tiroes fár^everyone to
appreciate, no matter what
Stealing
affects the l/Vel/’hoods of
everyone in the
Pete Ford
Nic Delzell
O pinion E ditor
T he C lackamas P rint
Music is a universally appreciated art form that should in
no way, ever be regulated.
While record companies and select musicians would dis­
agree profoundly with this statement, most of those in opposi­
tion seem to be living pretty well.*
In a society where money is portrayed by many as the most
important thing, programs such as Napster, Morpheus and
KaZaa remove the expense barrier for acquiring music that not
all can afford. Why should only the rich be allowed such a wide
variety of music?
Not only does online file sharing enable the less fortunate to
compile a library of their favorite songs, but it also allows less
well-known musicians, those who are probably struggling far
worse than any signed musicians, a way to display their cre­
ativity to others.
Nikki Hemming, chief executive of Sharman Networks and
owner of KaZaa, is currently being sued by all sorts of record
companies for piracy and copyright infringement laws regard­
ing file sharing. Hemming, who has reputation as something of
a feisty Internet guru, has taken a stand against the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIA A). She argues that these
industries are operating as a monopoly.
“KaZaa is not only legal, but a crucial part of the develop­
ment of peer-to-peer technology (P2P),” she said. Hemming
also said that she has proposed several solutions to record com­
panies including a pay-per-download KaZaa service but has not
been given any response.
“In the end, consumers and artists are brought together by
this amazing technology, and they have a level of interactivity
that they've never had before. KaZaa will make the industry
bigger by offering more choices and getting products to cus­
tomers much faster, just as VCRs and videocassettes trans­
formed the movie industry,” said Hemming. “P2P is unstop­
pable.”
Hilary Rosen, former chairperson for RIAA, disagrees.
“KaZaa is ruining, not expanding, the recording industry
and if you are using Kazaa today, you're getting, in my opinion,
a crappy quality song,” she stated.
Hemming, on the other hand, insists that rights-managed
content through KaZaa is as good as any rights-managed con­
tent anywhere in the world.
Rosen's statement, however, is true of some songs.
Recently, many downloads have been purposely corrupted in an
attempt to overcome KaZaa's file sharing. Record companies
have actually gone as far as hiring companies to share false and
corrupted versions of songs. They act as if they can't wait for
the courts to give an official verdict and instead take matters
into their own hands. This to me is unethical.
I believe that sharing music files online isn't going to hurt
the artists. If someone is a true fan of a particular band, they
will most likely purchase the band's CD anyway to be sup­
portive.
This ongoing battle may never meet on neutral ground but
everyone still deserves the right to listen to what they want,
when they want.
\
s
!
If you don’t have the dime, don’t do the crime because
illegally downloading music isn’t just wrong, it’s piracy.
According to the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA), piracy is the illegal duplication and distri­
bution of sound recordings. Piracy is divided into four cate­
gories: pirate recordings, counterfeit recordings, bootleg
recordings, and online piracy. The RIAA estimates that the
music industry «loses more than $300 million a year due to'
these types of piracy.
On Sept. 8, 2003, the RIAA began in earnest to fight
against this musical looting. They began filing lawsuits
against users that have downloaded an average of 1,000
songs. However, for users who choose to come forward and
promise that they will not download music, the RIAA will
not take action.
“We want to send a strong message that the illegal distri­
bution of copyrighted works has consequences, but if indi­
viduals are willing to step forward on their own, we want to
go the extra step and extend them this option,” said Mitch
Bainwol, RIAA chairman and CEO.
The RIAA is not the enemy here. They are just trying to
protect the rights of the artists, who are trying to make a dol­
lar. Independent labels and underground artists can’t afford
to lose money. Someone who is illegally downloading music
is stealing money right out of their favorite artists’ pockets.
“Nobody likes playing the heavy and having to resort to
litigation, but when your product is being stolen, there comes
a time when you have to take appropriate action. We simply
cannot allow online piracy to continue destroying the liveli­
hoods of artists, musicians, songwriters, retailers and every­
one in the music industry,” said RIAA President Cary
Sherman.
CD’s have been around for a long time, and there was a
time when paying $15 for one was accepted without ques­
tion. Downloading music is a relatively new concept, and
with it has come a rise in prices. Perhaps if people would
stop illegally downloading music, the price would return to a
reasonable amount and there wouldn’t be such a demand for
bootleg music.
There is a solution, though, for those who want more
music without a hefty price tag. Fans can get music legally
and inexpensively and still avoid robbing their favorite
artists.
For example, many websites are available that offer sin­
gles at just $1 each and albums are usually about $12 each.
Anyone who is so broke that they can’t afford to pay a buck
for a song should probably be doing something more produc­
tive with their time than listening to music.
Another alternative is used CD’s. Go to a local second­
hand music shop and do some browsing. Some shops in the
Portland area offer CD’s as low as $1.
And don’t forget the oldest medium for music enjoy­
ment—the radio. For the technology-minded, listen to online
radio. One more option is to borrow a CD from a friend. Just
don’t copy it.