Music piracy has been a popular issue since Napster was invited into our hearts and our homes (and our computers). Some think we are entitled to music, and that it ought to be free. Others believe we should be buying the music for a fair price on iTunes or by obtaining the physical CD. Most of us are somewhere in between, unsure of a method that would mutually benefit the consumer, record label and the artists. Overall, the majority want convenience.
This article from the CS Monitor shows how two governments respond to the same issue, and drastically so. Many people are looking to these examples to see which model might work best for their government.
What is interesting about this issue is that as each government develops its own approach, an abundance of gray area emerges. For example, if you download music in the United States, is it then illegal in Canada? If you do not download music, but have the Internet, will you be required to pay a music downloading tax?
My question to you is: do you think government ought to be intervening in the music piracy issue, and what sort of complications can you see arising if they do so?
Across Irish Sea: two bold tactics against music piracy | csmonitor.com
Monday, 23 February 2009
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2 comments:
Good question Anne-Marie. I'm not sure that one is a winnable battle because of how out of control it already is. I certainly believe artists should be paid for their work, and music is quite reasonably priced now (especially online), but the fact remains: people like free stuff.
Yeah it's true that people like free stuff. However, when you look at iTunes, it has already brought us into a direction where people are willing to pay for music out of convenience sake (instead of downloading from troublesome torrents, etc).
So I think there will eventually be some sort of standard, though I don't think it will be government to bring it about. A web company (such as Apple) will probably come up with the solution.
One thing is for certain - it won't be the record companies who develop the new policy as they have proved to be behind the times, out of touch and clueless.
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