sharing or piracy?

Whether you call it file "sharing" or music "piracy", downloading music for free off the internet is wrong eigther way. Just like any other industry, countless people work behind the scenes to get each and every song and album up and running. The process is costly and their hard work deserves to be redeemed through album sales, but this is unfortunately happening less and less. In fact, it is estimated by te RIAA that the music industry takes a 12.5 Billion dollar hit each year because of file sharing. 

In my opinion, downloading a song you don't own from a struggling artist and downloading a song from a major label artist are the same issue. Eigther way a lot of hard work went into that song and even though the artist may already have a lot of money, the other people who worked on the song aren't rich and famous. Some bands that are already very famous such as Radiohead choose to put their music on the internet for free downloads. This is different because the artist in this case and everyone behind the record had to agree for the record "In Rainbows" to be put online for free, it was their choice. 

Downloading a copy of a song you already own is in my opinion okay as long the copy you already have was bought legally and you are only downloading one other copy for whatever reason. This kind of goes along the same lines as copying a cd for a friend. I do this sometimes to make my friends mixes, this is a form of expression such as mixed tapes or collages. Also, if someone has taken the time (and money) to go buy blank cd's, which arent cheap, they are likely to be choosy about who they burn a cd for. This, in my opinion, is the real definition of music "sharing", taking the time, money and effort to make your friend a cd of music you think they would enjoy, like the mixtape of yesteryear, it is not stealing from anyone if the said music has already been purchased. 

Downloading a song to try it out seems harmless enough, but it can be a slippery slope. Once you have the song and know how to download for free, it seems unlikely you will really purchase the cd. I believe that downloading an album online for free is just as much stealing as shoplifting that album from a store. When I was younger I pretty much ruined two consecutive family computers by using Kazaa and exposing the innocent Dell's to viruses. Though I loved getting free music, I stopped when I got my own computer last year. Now I only use iTunes, and as of today I have purchased 1,566 songs from iTunes, the rest of the songs in my Library are from purcased cd's. On iTunes it is an option to listen to the music in other people's libraries in my network and to let them listen to mine, a feature I utilize. However, the different between this and putting all my music on Kazaa for anyone to download is that on iTunes people can only listen to my music, they cannot copy or download it. There have been many times I have listened to someone else's music and then downloaded it for myself off iTunes.

After using Kazaa for years and switching over to iTunes I would never go back. I feel bad for exploiting the hard work of artists, producers and everyone involved in the past but I do understand the temptation of websites like Kazaa. My roommate has Limewire and I sometimes get jealous of all the music she downloads, but I am not jealous about how slow I know it is making her computer! Music is art and while I think it is great when artists like Radiohead allow people to enjoy their art for free, we the public should respect the other artists and people in the music industry for not illegally downloading music.

Digital Media

The progression from analog to digital has really changed the way people, including myself, interact with media. It seems that as technology improves and becomes more fast paced, so does the media along with it. 

It is amazing to me that I can if I miss an episode of Lost, I can simply watch it on my computer whenever I want at equal quality to my T.V. When I watch old television shows such as the Fresh Prince of Bell Air, the quality of the picture takes me right back to the 90's because it looks so old compared to shows now. Though it is nice and nastalgic to watch old television shows and movies, I love watching shows in High Definition because it is so clear and feel that there is no downside to this improvement. I also enjoy experimenting with Garage Band and Photoshop on my computer, which would have been unheard of ten years ago. I feel that the more art people create, the better, I like listening to music such as Myspace Music which is recorded mostly by people on their own computers. People are more able to spread and explore their talent when it is right at their fingertips. 

The downside to me is that as media keeps improving, old machines and therefore old forms of media are being somewhat forgotten. It makes me sad that Polaroid is discontinuing instant film, because I love my Polaroid instand camera and think it is a different kind of picture than digital, so much more permanent. Also, when I want to watch old home movies, I have to hook the tape player back to the T.V. because it no longer is useful enough to stay there all the time and has been long replaced by the dvd player. The same thing goes with old mixed tapes from my childhood, I literally don't have a tape player in my house and therefore cannot listen to them at all!

I think the progression of technology and media is overall a positive thing, as long as the old forms of media are not forgotten and can still be appreciated!

electronic waste

The issue of electronic waste is a huge problem, but one that is not widely recognized by most people. Once our devices become outdated, they are ignored in favor of the newer technology, and consumers usually don't really think about old electronics once they are no longer using them. However, such devices contain materials that can be reused such as precious metals and transistors. Recycling centers in America have strict laws and use what they can from the materials, and once the electronics are stripped, they are sent to countries with relaxed laws and low wages such as China and India. The workers there then extract what they can from the machines, but it is VERY dangerous. Lead and mercury can seep into the water, toxic fumes and chemicals can be released and some of the substances can cause birth defects and cancer. But it gets worse. Everything that cannot be extracted and reused is sent to a landfill or just sits in piles around worksites. 

Though this is all very upsetting and everyone who is educated about it would agree that it is an imminent problem, there are little or no laws in the majority of countries concerning this issue and there is a huge international market for scrap equiptment. In poor regions of the countries where the machines are sent, people will work for practically nothing, and while it is a good thing that goods can now be shipped anywhere in the world and there is a flow of information, electronic waste is a downside of globalization. 

Just before I sat down to write this post, I changed the cartridge for my printer and sent the old cartridge back to HP in the pre-paid envelope in the box. Though this is a small thing, it made me happy to see that the company HP is making it easy for consumers to do the right thing by providing a convenient alternative to throwing the old cartridge in the trash. A good way to cut down on my impact seems to be to buy electronics that can be upgraded, it just makes sense both financially and enviornmentally. It is hard to break the habit of throwing away something once it is of no use to me, but with things like cell phones and computers, I always try to give them to someone I know so I don't feel wasteful. I have given all my old cell phones to friends and my old computer is now my moms computer. Though I'm not out crusading daily against electronic waste, I am making an effort to reduce my negative impact on the enviornment, and knowing more about the problem makes me even more motivated to do the right thing, even if its not as easy as finding the nearest trash can.

It seems like new devices are comming out almost everyday, so this problem is not going to go away and if everyone just became more conscientious about their habits with electronics, it would really benefit the enviornment and the health of people in developing countries.