The Music Downloading Controversy
As the title implies, there is an ongoing debate about music downloading. As with any controversy, there are those whose positions stand at one or the other polar opposites and those who are moderate or nonchalant. The problem started when a 19-year-old college student created a computer program which allowed web surfers to “download music from other music-lovers’ computer via the internet for free- without going through a third party provider” . Shawn Fanning invented the process now know as file sharing, founded Napster and got rich. Soon, however, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) along with several recording artists filed lawsuits against the company alleging that they “infringed on record labels’ copyrights”. With the victory of the RIAA there is no doubt that file-sharing with copyrighted music is illegal, but many industry professionals, avid down-loaders and legal experts are still debating whether or not it can be viewed as immoral. There are those who believe that downloading a song without paying for it is not only illegal, but immoral. None-the less, people continue to download songs anyway, rationalizing that the record companies are getting what they deserve after years of overpriced CD’s or that the artists won’t really miss the money. Some people are not sure what to make of the situation, sympathizing in some respects with either side. There are several proposed solutions to this problem, but it has become obvious that there is no easy or clear answer.