Have you ever downloaded music or a movie online illegally? When I was in high school, this was extremely popular and my friends would make fun of me for paying 99 cents on iTunes for the new Britney Spears song. But let’s face it – I knew what my friends were doing was wrong (even if I didn’t fully understand what illegally downloading was).
Charles Ess‘s “Digital Ethics” Specifically, Chapter 3 compares the relevant examples of illegally downloading music online to stealing a CD from a bookstore. Back in high school, my friends would’ve disagreed with this – saying something along the lines of “I would NEVER steal merchandise from Barnes and Noble!” or “I’m not hurting anybody by doing this.” But the fact is – yes, you are hurting somebody. And that somebody is the artist.
Importance of ethics in a digital world.
It doesn’t matter if you are illegally downloading music from a band who nobody knows exists or it’s off of Justin Timberlake’s newest album – you are literally stealing their hard work by not paying anything for it. To me, this seems ironic because wouldn’t you want to financially support a band or singer whose music you like? That band or singer has to make some kind of money to keep on producing the music that you like so much.. hence paying a price for their song on iTunes. It’s a logical circle.
The above video shows some of the serious consequences of downloading illegally online. Most people think, “Yeah, but I won’t get caught” or “Ha, it won’t happen to me.” I guarantee you the people that do get caught and punished every single day have thought those same exact things. Don’t be one of them.
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