Marc Prenger
Is downloading copyright music through campus networks ethical? Ultimately, and based purely on legality, I feel that it is not ethical. There are issues involved in deciding whether or not this action is ethical or not. I will discuss file sharing at its basics, and then I will discuss why the legalities of copyright music create an ethical problem. I will only be touching on each topic, but hopefully you will gain an understanding as to what creates an ethical dilemma. File sharing, itself, is perfectly ethical. If there is a file out there that someone has created and wants to share with everyone else, they have every right to share that file. “File sharing is not necessarily illegal, even if the works being shared are covered by copyright. For example, some artists may choose to support freeware, shareware, open source, or anti-copyright, and advocate the use of file sharing as a free promotional tool.” 1 With any given media that is set up to be given out free, file sharing is not illegal or unethical. It all comes down to the limitations the author/artist of the media being shared has set. I feel that in order to discuss the downloading of copyright music, I must clarify what it actually amounts to. “If I steal a CD from you, two things happen. First, I now have a copy of the CD. Secondly, you no longer have that CD. The MP3, on the other hand, is a case of unauthorized copying. If I copy your music, we both have a copy of the music and you are not made any worse off.” 2 This confronts the ethical issue of “theft.” As was stated in the quote, when you download a file from someone else, you are not actually taking it from them so that they no longer have it. You are making a copy so that you both have it. The problem with downloading music is that the artist is not making a profit that they would have made had you bought the music that they had rights to.
Now, to discuss the legality of downloading copyright music: “The Digital Theft Deterrence Act, the law at issue in the case, sets damages of $750 to $30,000 for each infringement, and as much as $150,000 for a willful violation.” 3 Yes, there is, in fact, an Act that says that copyright music cannot be downloaded for free without the consent of the artist. Downloading copyright music is illegal according to Congress. Despite this illegality, people continue to download music because of its ease (compared to driving to a store to buy a CD): “The RIAA's and MPAA's irrational war on P2P is not generating a single penny for artists. In fact, despite lawsuits against many P2P providers and over 20,000 music and movie fans, file sharing is more popular than ever.” 4 This does not change the simple fact that it is illegal. Even the student code of conduct on UC’s campus emphasizes the ethical problem with downloading copyright music: “ UC’s Student Code of Conduct states that any misuse of technology, which includes transferring or distributing unauthorized files from anywhere on the campus server, is subject to disciplinary action by the university. “\ Is downloading copyright music through campus networks ethical? No, it is not ethical. This decision is based on the fact that it is said to be illegal by Congress, and it is prohibited by the campus, itself. On the other hand, P2P networks are not unethical. They set up a system that is easy for people to use and to share files. Despite the ease of use, if an artist has copyright music and has not given permission for it to be shared as freeware, it is illegal and, therefore, unethical to download it whether or not it is on a campus server or not. 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_of_file_sharing
2. http://www.marco.org/218
3. http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/legal-jujitsu-in-a-file-sharing-copyright-case/
4. http://www.eff.org/issues/file-sharing
5. http://www.newsrecord.org/sections/news/busted