Pirates!!

Internet piracy. This is an ever-growing issue within the new and coming generations and will continue to rise to unimaginable levels. There is no way to fight against it: one can attempt to try and stem its progress momentarily, however, it cannot be stopped completely. Unless there is strict scrutiny on all web sources and their contents, there is no way to stop it in its entirety. The government would also have to provide surveillance nearly 24 hours a day to prevent this, so in short, a communism of sorts. This is both unfavorable for the good of the people as it inflicts on our liberty, our rights to free speech and privacy.

Through litigation, there has been a cut to illegal downloads online, however, this hardly made an impact as the support for lawsuits in this field had fallen. As anyone would expect, it’s hard to keep up with masses that support internet piracy- there’s just too many people to single out and file a lawsuit for.

There is no doubt that the musicians are the individuals, or groups, who take the fall the hardest with the growth of internet piracy. The train of thought remains: “Why should I buy music when I can download it for free?” The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in the Music & Culture text quotes Frances W. Preston, President of BMI: “Ironically, those who steal music are stealing the future creativity they so passionately crave.”  Preston is referring to the musicians who simply cannot emphasize creativity because of the lack of funds received in their career as musicians. However, one can argue that the average consumer’s passion for music hasn’t died out, and lives on, despite the growing issue of internet piracy.

The music industry may have a loss in revenue, but this can be fixed through incorporation of their businesses into the growing technological age. There had already been multiple attempts that can be seen, in attempts to incorporate themselves with the internet. They had plans to make a monthly charge for an unlimited download of music. Although a terrible idea, the thought of attempting to conform to the inevitable, growing technological age is admirable and should continue to be improvised. Although not the best alternative, incentives should be placed; something desirable that pirates cannot attain without legal means.

Musicians have it even harder than the music industry because of the cuts between royalties. The Music industry robs them of money, when pirates are already doing damage, so it’s only common sense that the musicians are the worst off. The music industry loses money, but not as much as musicians. Like mentioned by Preston above, the passion for music may be lost because there is greater emphasis on making a living with other jobs, rather than having their “day-job” solely on music. The pirates are the ones who benefit the most- litigation amongst these individuals are not so common, individuals who are caught were most likely abusing the system to an extremely unreasonable level. This isn’t a matter on how we can stop piracy, but moreover, how we can develop a system that is favorable to all parties.