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RIAA Says No Mystery In Rash of College Complaints
Doug Lederman writes "As colleges receive exploding numbers of complaints from recording companies about alleged illegal downloading of music files, theories abound about whether the industry is changing its criteria, aggressively targeting users who merely make downloaded music available to others rather than actual infringers. But after weeks of silence, the president of the RIAA says No: Better technology, he asserts, is merely resulting in better enforcement."
I steal music
You shoplift?
If by "I steal music" you mean "I use P2P to download songs" then you are entirely incorrect. Here is the difference between stealing music and copyriught infringement:
Stealing music
You go into Best Buy and sneak a CD out of the store. Best Buy eats the cost of the CD you took. If you are caught, you will pay a small fine of a couple hundred bucks for your misdemeanor crime, or perhaps perform community service.
Copyright infringement
You go to Best Buy and legally purchase a CD. You then rip the CD's tracks to MP3 and put them in your "share folder" and let Kazaa or Morpheus run. Downloading is not involved; the people who download the tracks you supply are not in the wrong. If you are caught there is no criminal penalty but you face civil penalties of up to a hundred thousand dollars per song.
But I think you're fooling yourself. You're not a thief. If you share music then you are a copyright infringer, or "pirate" in the unwashed vernacular.
mcgrew's razor: Never attribute to stupidity that which can be explained by greedy self-interest
I stand by what I said. It is theft, if you deprive the owner the monetary value that he/she was asking for so you could have the music in the first place.