Day 1:

Illegal downloads of music and movies has been increasing in recent years. As the FBI warning
labels say on movies this is not a victim less crime. The people that deserve to be paid for
making the movies and the music that people enjoy deserve to be paid for their work and effort.
If people make their living out of making things , like music, that others enjoy one is technically
stealing from them if they pirate their work. One may argue that they make millions maybe even
billions of dollars that one illegal download won't affect them, but if one person does it why won't
the next person do it? Because it is wrong? Did that stop the first person from doing it? It is not
okay to illegally download something because if it is not okay for everyone to do it why it is okay
for one person to be able to do it. If everyone were to to download things without paying for it
then artist, composers, actors, etc. would stop doing their work because it would not provide
profit and they would not be able to sustain their families. Some people might argue that they do
not have enough money to pay for the things they would like to download, but i do not feel that
this is reason enough for one to simply take something without paying when everyone has to
purchase if they want it. As i was reading the discussions between Jason Robert Brown and the
teenager who had his music sheets illegally I understood what the girl was saying to him but I
agreed with his rebuttal to her that regardless of what it is for it is still wrong. Like USF Webster
university informs its students about the school policies of illegal downloads but I feel they go
into more examples of consequences and their severity. 

http://www.webster.edu/technology/service-desk/illegal-downloading.html (Links to an external
site.)Links to an external site. 

Illegal Downloading and File Sharing

https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/white-collar-crime/piracy-ip-theft/fbi-anti-piracy-warning-seal (Lin
ks to an external site.)Links to an external site.

FBI Anti-Piracy Warning Symbol

Day 2:

File Sharing and Illegal downloads should not be made illegal for a couple of reasons.
One is that Content downloaded from the internet can help inspire future designers,
composers, writers, and actors since it is easy for them to get their hands on it. Another
reason is that if one person downloads it illegally and they really like it and they tell their
friends and they feel the same way 4 or 5 others might buy the music or movie. This is
one of the points that Eleanor made to Brown in the "Frighting with teenagers: A
Copyright Story". Another thing is that illegal downloads contribute to the popularity of
the author, this ties in with the point above. A study in Europe found that Illegal music
downloads does not affect the music industry as negatively as one might first assume.
One of their findings was that "legal purchases would be about 2 percent without illegal
downloading available". One reason for this they explained was that people explained
that most of the music they download illegally is stuff they would not get if it was not
available for free. With all of this in perspective i do not believe that illegal downloads
should be made illegal. 
 
 
http://entertainment.time.com/2013/03/21/illegal-music-downloads-not-hurting-industry-
study-claims/ (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
Illegal Music Downloads Not Hurting The Industry

Reply:

Hello Quentin you made some great points about why file sharing should not be illegal which I
also talked about such as how it helps contribute to the authors fame and how that might further
increase their revenue. I also talked about how artist make money from more than just
downloaded music such as concerts and fame. By fame i mean how well they are know
because for example youtube pays the channel owner by views so if an artist has millions of
view on youtube which is free they are also making money. Great way to look at the opposing
side of your original argument.