Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I just thought I would start this discussion to see what people think about illegal downloads....
I can honestly say I have never done it. Mainly for the fear of downloading a virus. From a moral perspective I am undecided.
I love music and love to collect CD's and records. If someone was never ever going to hear a beautiful peice of music in their life because they could not afford it would it be OK for them to download it illegaly? If they could never create something because they did not have some expensive software and therefore never fulfill there full potential would it be OK to illegall download the software? However where do you draw the line? Do you then just help yourself to someones possesions? Also what if the owner (software designer or artist) is really struggling to make a living? Should that influence your decision to download?
I am not a big fan of the consumer economy and culture but thats maybe another topic.
As I guitarist I am happy for people to listen, even if I am not paid for it.
I used to play regularly in church and none of the musicians ever asked for payment,
some probably hoped they could make a living some day but it wasnt why they made music or performed in public.
My guess the Stones and Paul McCartney dont really need the money either.
I really dont buy the record company argument that we need to pay every time we listen to music or music will die, thats like the bankers saying we need to pay the bankers billions or we wont have the best people. It just doesnt follow.
To me music has always been free, its only recently copyright law has tried to criminalise listening to music, and its going too far. We are allowing copyrighting genes, squares with round corners, look and feel, animals and plants, its just too much.
It reminds me of the land grabs of the days of empire and the acts of enclosure, to me its just greedy people grabbing what shouldnt be owned by anyone just because they can make money.