Illegal Downloading: Why I Do It

Music, Movies, Software, I Do it ALL and I Will Continue to Do it

By Karl Withakay, published Sep 29, 2006
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I'm a simple man. I'm not dirt poor but I'm not what you would call "well off". So when I hear the word "FREE", my head pops up and I take notice. I'm a musician and singer with a deep love and appreciation for music. I'm quite a movie buff and enjoy sitting down to a good movie. I'm also a computer geek that loves to play computer games, and get acquainted with the latest computer software. However, I don't have the $599.00 US dollars to pay for a program like Adobe Photoshop or $60 US dollars to spend on the new Roxio Easy CD creator and I'd like to see the hot new movie releases in the comfort of my own home and not have to spend about $30 US dollars for my lady and I to go to the local cinema. My lady and I still go to the movies about twice a month. I still buy a CD occasionally but I don't like buying a CD if I'm only going to like 2 songs out of the 12 that are on it. So I download all these things. Now the games I download usually don't stay on my PC for long. After I beat the game in most cases, I delete the file. The music I keep and the computer software I usually keep as well. Do I feel a bit guilty? Not at all. Allow me to explain a bit.

Back in the 1990s (before I owned a computer) like most other people, I was paying $18 US dollars for a music CD. I was paying $20 US dollars for a new release VHS video cassette (that eventually wore out). Even in the year 2000, I was paying for software so the entire media industry has gotten a decent share of my hard earned money over the years.

Myself, I'm a musician, singer, and songwriter. I try to look at it from the artist's point of view. As a struggling artist in a constant quest for getting heard and getting my stuff "out there", I wholeheartedly support music downloading. I figure the more people that hear my stuff, the better. And If (God willing) I ever get to the point where I get signed to a major label, I KNOW that more of my Cd's will be sold than downloaded. Bands and artists like Metallica and Madonna need to get a grip. They're not hurting and either of them can make a CD that sounds good OR bad and it will sell.

The Arguments.

 
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Showing Comments 1 - 10 of 10
 
 
Now knowing you personally has no bearing on what I am about to say. . . . . . .In the past and presently I do download, or as some of you would say "Steal" different songs and a very few programs off the internet. Haven't any of you ever even heard a song at the end of a movie that simply made the hair on the back of your neck stand up? Or have you heard a recreation from one of today's artists of a song that you grew up listening to done by someone else that you feel was better? I am constantly listening to the stuff that my teenagers listen to and hearing bits and pieces of songs that were recorded years ago and recorded by someone else. I will often download said song just to prove to them that it did exist and it was taken from someone else's artistry. As far as the very few programs I have downloaded, I have done it because I simply needed the program for my computer and did not have the funds to buy it. I know people who download cracked versions of xp and vista, but I, my

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Posted on 10/03/2007 at 11:10:00 AM

 
Great Job....A lot of it doesn't make sense to me because I am no computer technical 'geek' by any means...And that one 'writer' lady is retarded...Don't write things on the net that you don't want people to steal! I think it'd be kind of hard to get one of your books stolen on the internet...and its no doubt that people steal books and music and movies from the store like they always have! In the animal world, your only worry is survival. As humans...well music and writings...lyrics...really help me survive because its means of entertainment. Musicians still get a lot of money from their concerts...and if you REALLY love the band I know a lot of kids who still buy original Cds and things just to collect them. Same thing goes with movies...I've known a few guys that take the time and effort to 'burn' a movie they rented at the redbox for 1$ but if they really like the movie they seen in theatars and don't want to wait to own it then they still seem to go out and pay the price to own it

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Posted on 10/02/2007 at 3:10:00 PM

 
the argument saying that artists make enough money anyways totally doeesnt cut it. it perpetuates the idea that if someone is rich, it's ok to steal from them. also, you really offer no concrete reason as to justify downloading music, movies, etc besides, "i want to." the difference between you trying to get your stuff out there and bigger music artists is that it's THEIR full time job. it's their main source of income. i dont really enjoy seeing music artists today live in enourmous mansions and own 200 cars, but it still isnt right to steal from the rich. am i rich? heck no. im a freakin college student. haha.

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Posted on 09/16/2007 at 5:09:00 PM

 
I so agree with you. do you have any music out there to be heard? if so where I am interested in hearing it. So when you become famous I can say I listened to him way back when. :-)

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Posted on 09/04/2007 at 9:09:00 PM

 
LOL, if record companies weren't doing everything imaginable to screw over the artists, I might have a bit more respect for their claims of theft. As for the movie companies, LOL, how many lawsuits have the writers and actors had to bring to get their CONTRACTS fulfilled? It always amuses me when a thief cries thief. And, just an aside, am I supposed to be so ignorant that I don't know the record companies purposely put one good song and ten pieces of crap together, and call it an album? That's selling a single at album prices, and they do it every single day. Am I supposed to not be aware of the attempt to remove all rights by the artists to their own live performances? Oh, yeah, pay no attention to the guy behind the curtain, etc.

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Posted on 07/15/2007 at 11:07:00 AM

 
People mostly download Top 40 hits that they would be unwilling to buy a whole cd of. I encourage this because if enough people do this, then those top 40 artists will go out of business.

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Posted on 04/10/2007 at 10:04:00 AM

 
i think you are great you should keep on doing it because those companys make enough money anyway so keep on doing it

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Posted on 02/21/2007 at 4:02:00 AM

 
It falls into the category of being a little pregnant. All of the explanations you give are just excuses. It is not up to you to come up with the laws. If you don't like the laws, you change them. If you break them, you deal with the consequences. You can rationalize all you want, but that's all you are doing in a pretty embarrassing way. In the meantime, you're stealing, and you're obviously proud of it. The fact that it's a "small" thing makes no difference. You and 10,000 of your closest friends amounts to a lot. I've made my living as a writer for most of my life. I'm not a wannabe, so this is it for me in terms of income. I don't make a fortune, and that's not even the point. I'm just mentioning it as you've made a point to bring up how much various things cost. Well, they cost the same for me, too. I search my name about once a month, and I'm finding my stolen work showing up all over the place. The thing is, for most places, I would have granted permission because

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Posted on 11/26/2006 at 3:11:00 PM

 
I just would like to say that 90% of what I download is music or programs that I have owned in the past. I say why pay for it twice!

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Posted on 10/02/2006 at 8:10:00 AM

 
I've got an article written about the same thing. Good job. I also have an article about a FREE sound editing program. Come check them out!

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Posted on 09/29/2006 at 1:09:00 PM

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