Illegal Downloading
Unfair to Artists
Filesharing and illegal downloading has been a big issue for
media companies since the late 1990s. It should come as
no surprise, but an extensive new UK study by Entertainment
Media Research shows that illegal downloads are at an all time
high just as paid download growth is slowing. Cinema
isn't doing well, it's probably affected just as much as music
where illegal downloads are concerned. Every month, some
five billion illegal downloads are passed around the internet,
and the entertainment industry sues several hundred people.
Despite the years of litigation, illegal downloads are 10
times as common as legal digital sales and are still growing at
60 percent a year. Currently illegal downloads are cutting into
DVD sales. The number of people buying music online has
doubled since last year, but illegal downloads are also on the
rise. But if it is true that illegal downloads are injurious to
content holders, you would think that they would be embracing
legal download services with prices at least approaching that
of movie tickets, or if not current PPV ( still exorbitant
). The consequences of illegal downloads are very real:
from the risk of legal action to the likelihood of computer
viruses, spyware, identity theft and other threats from the
peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing software typically used for
downloading. Steps taken by ISPs to arrest piracy could
be anything from sending primary warnings to a subscriber about
his illegal activity to limiting the speed and quantum of
downloads by the particular subscriber, and jamming the line
while the illegal downloads are in progress.
The biggest reason for why illegal downloading is still
occurring is that most people don't have enough knowledge about
copyright law. Whether that is the case or not may remain
to be seen, but it doesn't change the fact that illegal
downloading is still a crime. Many free illegal downloads
are not of any great quality and to find one online among
thousands of similar downloads is too time consuming in the
end. There can be no doubt that the need for action against
illegal downloading is now urgent. Illegal downloading is
not fair to the artists, musicians and actors who put a lot of
time and effort to make the songs/movies for us to enjoy.
|