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Students continue illegal file sharing

Written by James Delahunty @ 20 Aug 2005 7:44 User comments (16)

Students continue illegal file sharing

Across the United States, increasing numbers of University students have access to music for free through legal services but why is it that many of these students continue to get their music from file sharing programs instead of their legal alternative? Let's not forget about the possible legal consequences while sharing music illegally on P2P networks and of course the threat of viruses or the spyware content of some of the worlds biggest used P2P software. So why are so many students actually sticking to P2P instead of their new free ways to listen to music?
The answers are actually quite easy and understandable. The main reason is because of the limitations that they face while taking advantage of the free music. In order to listen to the music, a lot of time students have to stay at desks and can’t just walk around and listen to it on a portable device like an iPod. That's because while these students are free to listen to the music, the 99c per track download charge applies when they want to be able to burn the music to CD or to store it on a portable device. Most of the copyrighted music on P2P networks has no limits on copying or what you store them on, and are in some cases, of higher quality.



Another reason would be selection. What if they can’t find the music they want and listen to it for free? Putting all legal issues aside, who could doubt that major P2P networks are not the best resource for finding music currently available to music downloaders all around the world? Even when you exclude the poisoned files put there by the entertainment industry, the numbers of MP3's are in the millions. It seems unlikely that any service like Napster or Real's Rhapsody will ever offer a free service for students that also permits them to burn the music onto CDs or store them on portable devices.

In the past, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has directly targeted university students in it's lawsuits. The organisation believes that it's an educational tool for the students.

Source:
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16 user comments

120.8.2005 20:07

Well what can i say to this the answer is pretty straight forward... FREE This is the major reason y people still use it and also even if its bad quality users can use P2P to download a sound engenering program and they can change the poor quality to a standard that is listenable.... For me if i find it a really good song and the artist has release a few good songs then i might buy their album also i buy the album if i think i can use their track of music within the remixes i create for my dance performances, u never know what is possible....

220.8.2005 22:30

riaa= choobs!!! i download....i don't share hehe. y don't they just bak off, i hered more cds are sold then illiagaly downloaded is that true?

321.8.2005 01:42

I think I read it here somewhere that so called illegal downloaders are also the highest buyers of legal music. In the US that averages around $5.45 per month spent on legal music. Those who do not download spend a little under $2/month on legal music. Based on those figures the more illegal downloaders that exist the higher legal music sales will be. Logic then dictates that the music industry should embrace P2P then sit back and count the increased sales. Unfortunately the RIAA and it's affiliates think differently so will continue to shoot themselves in the foot until there is only a stump left and they simply fall over.

421.8.2005 07:04

hopefully, this is a sign that as this next generation takes places of power in society, they will be able to knock the RIAA down a notch or two and put them in their place. i'm starting to like the looks of the future.

521.8.2005 09:50

it will take awhile as still alot of old guard out there!!

621.8.2005 09:57

yeah, but i'm not too worried. most of them are so inept....just look at their track record. they've gotten a whole .001% of filesharers so far, and their moving at the speed of molasses. XD

721.8.2005 11:37
duckNrun
Inactive

now the radio stations are joining the RIAA and the MPAA about complaining about online music. Radio stations are seeing net radio and services like yahoo music and rhapsody (et al) as direct competition, add in satellite radio and the radio moguls don't like the look of the future anymore than the RIAA or the MPAA. Understandably people hate losing money... heck everyone on this site would agree that they themselves hate to lose money. The problem they face though isn't how to NOT lose money instead it is how to MAKE money under the new tech and creating new business models to do so. Any business that does not move forward into the future is going to be stuck in the past, this is basic knowledge from any Business 101 class. The U.S steel industry was once the world's leader but it became bloated and continued to use outdated factories, methods and models. Eventually Big Steel was govt. subsidized with tariffs etc to the point that there isn't any Big Steel anymore. It's relevant to point out though that New Steel is turning profits through modernization of their factories and business models. Just like big steel, the RIAA sat around through a decade of explosive progress in tech and internet and did nothing. Content to retain their outdated systems, secure in their delusions about their self worth, self importance, and infallibility. Now they realize that THEIR free ride is about to end. That their extinction WAS clearly written on the walls of their corner offices but they refused to pay attention to it. And in their desperation to stave of the future which is here now, a future they disregarded and discounted, until they can figure out how to deal with it to THEIR advantage they attack anything and anyone they see as a potential threat. First is was filesharing, now it's burnable cd-r's... next it will be dvd's, hdd's memory cards etc etc I'm just waiting to hear where I send the flowers to....

821.8.2005 13:12

Isn't it interesting that the RIAA's biggest argument against copyright infringement is that the artists lose money, but I have yet to hear a single artist complain about losing money? The original artist does not get 99 cents per track. If they're lucky, they get a tenth of that or so. So, when around 35% (the figure was somewhere in that ballpark wasn't it?) of music is pirated, who do you think is going to complain? The record company moochers who do nothing and get 90% of the money, or the creators, who only get 10%? The record companies are the biggest waist of money in the music industry, and people are really starting to notice, so the RIAA is trying to make it illegal for people to act on their common sense.

922.8.2005 07:22
gareth22
Inactive

if its still free and legal in university id take the legal option :)

1022.8.2005 10:14

But you can't keep what you download.

1131.8.2005 04:02

part of the appeal beyond just being free is the rebellious/outlaw/fuck the labels/fuck the RIAA flavor of p2p filesharing and that's a good thing.

1231.8.2005 09:44

That's always good too. :)

1321.9.2005 03:51
Crowski
Inactive

Maybe If the record companies would understand the needs of its buyers more music downloads would decrease. Who wants to buy a CD that has one song or two songs on it that are good and the rest stink for 15 or 20 bucks. The more sensible idea is to create a concept where the purchaser can go in to a store and tell them the songs he wants on a CD from any artist sort of like what P2P users do now.

1421.9.2005 09:05
thepcguru
Inactive

At one time they had a system called personics where you could listen to music tracks, program what you wanted and in what order, and it would create a tape for you within minutes. I bought one of these. Unfortunately, personics no longer exists.

1521.9.2005 12:43

i think they had a similar system of doing 45rpm records. you select what songs onto a 45rpm disk & was done at the music store.

1622.9.2005 04:21
Crowski
Inactive

Recall a few years ago before all this P2P got popular getting mail from a company that would put songs for you from a list they sent out and put them on a cassete tape. Mostly oldies nothing new or current.

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