Illegal Downloading is Stealing

The title says it all. Most of us have illegally downloaded something, me included. I’m not proud of the fact, but it’s just so damn easy. You just point and click. In our instant gratification society we’re used to hitting the feeder button and getting the food pellet. What happened to saving your allowance and riding your bike to the record store? In the end, it’s stealing. A good way to make this hit home is the whole “handbag” comparison. You wouldn’t steal a car; you wouldn’t steal a handbag etc. This PSA makes it pretty clear. 

One of the roots to the problem is that you don’t hear about people getting caught. There are very few articles out there showing what punishments are meted out for illegal downloading. The ones that are outline punishments with huge punitive damages 1.5 million dollars in damages? How is a regular Joe supposed to pay those kinds of theft damages back? It just sounds unreasonable and somewhat fake.

It isn’t unreasonable or fake to the artist creating the music or movie. In very real terms, the artist won’t be able to continue making the music you love, because they aren’tmaking any money from their art. Media mogul James Murdoch broke down the financial aspect in this article pretty succinctly when he said,

“It's a basic condition for investment and economic growth and there should be the same level of property rights whether it's a house or a movie,"

Obviously, there’s more to it than the monetary aspect. As stated in the title it’s stealing and ethically wrong. It just doesn’t feel like it because there’s no physical aspect to it.

It’s very difficult to make people understand the fact that it’s stealing on the same level as walking into a store and putting something in your pocket. Obviously, we all know that stealing is ethically and morally wrong. It’s a faceless crime in which people like you and me are being ripped off. That’s often why it’s so easy to download music and movies. With the increase in bandwidth in the recent past, the amount of illegal downloads is starting to hit the movie and TV industries. Larger files are able to be downloaded and shared at much higher rates than even two years ago.

With music and movies becoming available at faster speeds, it’s up to you and your morals to make the decision. If you like the music your favorite artist is making and you like the movies from your favorite director, please think before you illegally download.