Arguments Against Illegal Downloading
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What arguments for and against the illegal downloading of music? 2011-10-14 11:06:48
I do it all the time.
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What are your arguments in favor ( 2009-03-29 09:42:20
It's illegal only in some countries, this is internet, and it is global, never forget that.
The arguments in favor are the exchange of culture and knowledge, the access that gives internet to those contents to everyone, the democratization of this and the elimination of the frontiers between social classes. There may be more arguments.
The arguments against are the loss of money for the industry that distributes the copyrighted material. However, the artists responsible for this material only get a very small portion of the money that is generated selling it. Most of the money is for intermediaries, that are no longer necessary having a channel like internet to distribute this sort of contents.
Water sellers are no longer required, we have pipes now.
It sounds like you are only concerned with pro-copyright arguments so that is all I will cover here. The fact that it is illegal is not a reason in and of itself. It is only illegal in the first place because of the other effects.
Should people be rewarded for their efforts? Consider the shoe test: you have just spent six months of your life writing a book or computer program or whatever in the expectation that you will get paid by the people that use it. Would you be happy if hundreds of thousands of people used what you had worked so hard on without paying you?
If people do not get financially rewarded rewarded that jeopardises future creation. If after working on that book you found the money you eventually received did not amount to your living expenses during the period you were writing it would you be inclined to spend another six months writing a second book for little financial reward? In the case of a company, is it able to produce new content if it goes bankrupt as a result of copyright infringement?
Finally, consider those companies. By ripping them of you are not really sticking it to "the man". Who owns those companies? The biggest proportion of shares are held by pension funds. By damaging the creative industries you are indirectly ripping off millions of individuals of average means, who are dependant on those companies for their financial security in retirement.