Think Again Before You Click That “Download” Button…
We all know someone who has downloaded music online, but what happens when an entire group of people works together to share copyrighted music through the Internet? The answer is a huge court case (as you probably could have guessed). Fairly recently, four people from eastern Virginia were accused of “conspiracy to commit copyright infringement,” because of their ongoing online sharing group called Rabid Neurosis, or “RNS.” It is alleged that the group existed for slightly less than 10 years and was infamous for receiving and distributing music CDs before their respective release dates.
How could anyone get away with such a feat? Apparently, it is much easier if you know the right people. In this case, the “right people” were radio DJs and others who had exclusive access to music that had not yet been released. To make the situation even worse, one member of the group may have had access to a CD manufacturing plant in North Carolina and used this access to obtain more music before it had been released to the public. By having such high clearance, the RNS members were able to release the unreleased music online for others to download, which is obviously a violation of copyright law. Unfortunately, the RNS members have only been indicted, which means they have not been proven guilty of these charges.
It is very unfortunate to hear of such crimes as this because you must think about the artists involved. So many artists lose profit from illegal music downloads, and it is even worse when the illegal downloading occurs before the music has even had a chance to be released. Sure, you can argue that this could still generate interest for the music later on; however, it is hard to deny the fact that once someone can download the music they want for free, there is a good chance they are not as willing to pay for it at a music store. These operations performed by RNS are a classic example of copyright infringement on a much more elaborate scale, and if the charges stand they deserve to be imprisoned. Not only have they potentially stolen sales from artists, they have compromised the integrity of other businesses and organizations.
-Kianna (who just returned from the conference =])
Mash-Up & Remix: The Hottest F-Sem at M-Wash 
I completely agree on this instance. It sounds like these people have just abused their power in the music industry to screw over the artists. I really don’t know if jail time is completely necessary though. Maybe it is, I can’t seem to make up my mind on the subject. But I do think that illegal downloads are almost like the people’s way of fighting back against the music companies’ abuse of their power. Of course, this ideal does not pertain to this situation, but I do wish that music did not have such high price these days. And you might argue that music does not cost all that much, but to buy the amount of music our culture has become accustomed to, I feel like the prices should probably be lowered?
From a business standpoint, it would only be good to lower the prices if there was a certain level of confidence that people would buy more songs. Otherwise, everyone just loses more money and artists get an even smaller profit, if any at all. But if they can get them free from an online source, why would they even bother with the new prices? The current prices for songs are not ridiculously high, and sometimes you can find music cheaper just by catching a sale. I bought Paramore’s new album from Amazon.com for $3.99 last Tuesday because it was on sale for its release. It really just depends on where people look to get their music, but I don’t think lower prices would have much of an impact.