Downloading illegally or buying CDs in a shop?

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Same here.

Tim

As a writer, I have a great deal of respect for intellectual property. The only downloading I've ever done has been legal.

If you like a form of music, downloading it illegally is a great way to make it go away. Record companies are not in business to not make money. They will make recordings of the music that they can sell, not the music large numbers of people steal.

By illegally downloading, you steal from the artist, the record company, the distributors, and, ultimatley, yourself.

And, no, it is still illegal, even if you keep it to yourself.

Do you think that it would be okay to shoplift CD's from a record store? If not, where do you see a difference?

Well, I hope the musicians aren't just in it for the money, and I don't have too much sympathy if record companies get stolen from. (bad grammar, I know)

but still, I only download if there's 1 song I want, or to see if I like a band before buying their cd. Recently I've been going to ruckus.com, which is legal and free to listen to for college students, it's nice because you can listen to a CD to see if it's good.

Downloading illegally is much better for me in a variety of ways, it allows me to acquire music without spending any money therefore allowing me to spend my money on other things, it allows me to acquire music which I wouldn't otherwise have been able to get because Record Stores often don't have the music I like, and it allows me to build up a huge collection of music that I'll rarely listen to meaning that I wont get bored and at the same time I'll be able to play whenever there is a loud noise such as dogs barking in the background.

Apparently yes, it would be ok. If they're losing tons of money per day then those record stores will go out of business, that's the way things work you know, if a store isn't making money then they'll close, and all your apocalypse preaching wont stop that from happening. Do you know what happened to swords when they became obsolete? People stopped using them in War.

By the way, wasn't it already mentioned that we should stay on Topic? I think it was you know.

I meant that we avoid talking about places to download illegal music.

To add my two cents to the discussion, I only half agree with Litguy. People should respect intellectual property and I think people who steal music over the net with no intention of paying the artists should be punished. But I don't think that all illegal music downloading is bad, if you do it with the intention of buying it if you like it and discarding it otherwise. Like I said before, particularly if you have no interest in the types of music played over the radio, it's the best way of discovering new music.

When I download illegally I don't download whole albums, just a couple of tracks. I also download legally and buy CDs. I prefer CDs because they're tangible even though some CDs are quite expensive.

I also by CDS from SHOPS even though I have the tracks downloaded - when it's something I really LOVE ! !


Incidently I understand that the way we buy or acquire music MAY be changing inthe near future.

Radiohead's NEW album is available for download ... and you pay WHAT you think it's worth ! !

Also the Irish band ASH have just released their last vinyl / CD album ....... ALL their NEW music from now on wether it be "single" tracks or "collection" of tracks is going to be put on their website - available for FREE download to anyone ! !! !

They reckon that they can make more money by selling their music on DVDs and doing touring.

I download whole albums via torrents, at either 192, 256 or 320kbps Quality.

I've never bought a CD. Ever. I download everything. I hope the RIAA isn't reading this...

I download everything from music, movies to books. I use torrents too. I even share them with friends. Its not like i enjoy getting them for free but its just how things are now. I mean it's right there in front of you, you don't even have to leave your seat. For someone like me who just want to listen and not really into collecting records, it will be foolish not to download. And i can surely say pretty soon, record companies are going to find a way to stop people from downloading and they'll be all proud again and overcharging us, because they're on top again. It's like a cycle but 'til then, they'll just have to put up with me downloading for free because right now it's just too easy and they're not willing to put that much effort and money to stop it.

Illegal plz.

I am not a thief. Downloading illegally makes you one, it's theft, pure and simple, morally equivalent to walking into a store and stuffing your bags with items you've not paid for. As a green card holder, I'm also painfully aware that illegally downloading music is ground for deportation from the US, and once you've been thrown out, you won't get back in again. That would make my marriage really tough.
I buy from Amazon, mostly, and have bought a couple of downloads from them, also. I'm made nervous by DRM, and Amazon's mp3s are easily the highest quality available from anywhere.

Fair enough in and of itself, but studio recordings are usually done in digital now, just a higher quality than CDs (generally 24bit 192khz), so it's not like your vinyl started out as an analogue wave in the first place. Have you considered looking at any of the newer digital formats such as SACD or DVD-A? I found the change in quality from CD to SACD to be noticeable, it's a far better sound, although only really audible on classical or jazz - there's too much "fuzz" already on most popular music genres for it to really be clear. The surround sound available on those formats can be pretty breathtaking, also. Linn records (a Scottish, mostly classical recording company) have gone a step further and sell direct digital media in studio quality, although I suspect most people don't want a single record to take up over a gigabyte on their hard drive.

Categorically untrue. Believe me, I'm a music gradiate, and we did spend some time looking at music copyright. They may not actually prosecute you, but that doesn't make it legal. Then again, in the UK it's actually illegal for you to rip your legally held CDs to a digital format, and no one seems to care about that either.

Yes, I download songs illegally, but I don't burn them or sell them or anything like that. I admit that. Lately it's mostly been songs from TV shows I watch. I still buy CDs sometimes.

"Categorically untrue. Believe me, I'm a music gradiate, and we did spend some time looking at music copyright. They may not actually prosecute you, but that doesn't make it legal. Then again, in the UK it's actually illegal for you to rip your legally held CDs to a digital format, and no one seems to care about that either."

If they don't do anything about it then what makes it different from something legal (Other than the fact that they say that they think it's illegal?), and besides that just because something is illegal doesn't make it wrong.

For example Corporations in the UK have way too much power, is that good or bad? Police Brutality, good or bad? Religious Bigotry, good or bad? Eugenics, good or bad? If they aren't willing to do anything then can't you technically considered it legal since it's only illegal in name only?

In practical terms, very little, although it does mean that little if any legislation is required if they want to switch from not enforcing the law to doing so. As an example, there's been a longrunning conversation about decriminalising marijuana in the UK. It would not be made legal - the police would still be at liberty to arrest or the CPS could prosecute someone for possession, dealing etc. if they really wanted to, and it would likely be unwise to open a store to sell marijuana, but the average joe on the street wouldn't be at any real risk of prosecution for buying a little for personal use, and the friend of a friend who supplied similarly wouldn't be at risk. But if there was a problem of a huge upsurge in crime associated by dealing, they could simply decide to begin enforcing the next day. It really becomes a timescale thing.
In the case of music piracy, this means that while enforcement isn't happening on a large scale now, the police still have liberty to shut down and prosecute pretty much anyone they choose to, it's just generally considered more hassle than it's worth.
Anyway, it seems that the UK's rather lenient stance on file sharing may soon change. From the BBC:
Note that the above is more to do with how you go about enforcing, rather than creating laws making file sharing illegal.

And how, pray tell, would you justify it as OK? Just because someone may be rich, and I may dislike how they conduct their personal lives, that doesn't make it any less a crime if I break into their house and steal their property. Copyrighted material is the property of the copyright order. Taking it without permission is theft, pure and simple. It doesn't matter if I dislike the labels, it doesn't matter if I'd like to just take something that belongs to them. It's still theft.
The reasons we have laws against this sort of thing is precisely to stop stores going out of business and artists from becoming destitute when they're putting in labour to get their art out to you, the punter. As a society, we accept that artists need to be rewarded for their work and that you shouldn't be able to just copy it and take it.