by Kimmie
March, 2002

Whether you are for, against, or could care less about the issue of file sharing, it's hard to avoid getting caught up in the never-ending debate. While some thought they heard the last of it when Napster was shut down, others made cryptic comments about the technical community being more advanced, foretelling of an inevitable future where the record companies would have to bow down or be swallowed up in the sea of Napster-clones. Yet, the long arm of file sharing has now reached so far as the film industry, which is currently faced with the loss of revenues due to increased file sharing of even the most current films. Though discussing how unfortunate it is that the gazillion dollar film and recording industries are losing money when most of us are living pay-check-to-pay-check isn't exactly the fuel to win anyone over to the "Napster Bad" sect, which is the opposite goal of this commentary.

The most egregious misunderstanding throughout this debate is that the guilty parties abusing the system are the ones being punished by the poorly placed roadblocks. Strong-arming free file sharing services into closing, or putting codes on CD media to prevent ripping does not, and will not, stop the unlawful pirating of CDs. What it does achieve is the frustration and infuriation of the record companies' and musicians' biggest customers, the music fans, that when provided with a good product will eventually go out and purchase the CDs in question. Didn't we learn this the lesson the first time around with cassette tape recorders? Back in the day, they were touted as the end of the recording industry. Music fans were able to tape their favorite songs off of the radio or dub entire albums from their buddy's newly purchased vinyl. Sure, it affected sales somewhat, but overall, music fans still purchased the albums. They still wanted the tangible things - the liner notes, the lyrics, the artwork. Truth be told, most fans, who somehow managed to scrape enough cash together to purchase a PC and CD burner, would rather spend the $18.00 on a CD then waste their valuable time downloading an entire album, which even at high speeds, the inevitable burning at 2x to render the final product playable in standard CD players is a tedious chore at best.

Throughout time, technology has been accused of debunking the entertainment industry's efforts to make money. Aside from the tape recorder example, flash ahead to the 80s when VCR's were introduced into our lives. Filmmakers were gasping in outrage, convinced that this was the end of cinemas and revenues from moviegoers who certainly wouldn't pay for a movie when they can rent it or tape it off HBO for free. Yet folks are still lining up to pay over $7.00 to see a film on the big screen. Meanwhile, you don't see writers or publishers screaming that their books are sitting on library shelves. Do writers and publishers not put every bit the same effort into their work? How is it that they are able to survive when anyone can borrow and enjoy their work without ever having to pay for it?

In recent years, we had the postal service up in arms over email taking a chunk out of their income, though they have yet to fold -- you still cannot send packages through the Internet. Furthermore, instant messaging and video cams are becoming household items, yet the majority of us still have telephones and long distance carriers. The point is, we cannot allow big business to get in the way of our advancements in technology. Think of where we would be if McDonald's had sued the manufacturers of the first microwave, citing that it makes faster food and is a threat to their business? Or if Henry Ford was prevented from manufacturing the automobile because it might take money out of the pockets of horse farmers and carriage builders. What if the Wright brothers were prevented from developing the first airplane because it posed a threat to the locomotive industry?

The argument can be made that with these past technologies, the good far outweighed the bad, however, file sharing does propose many benefits. Take the media for example - we are now able to download virtually any song by any artist, which gives us the ability to hear the entire catalog of a prospective interviewee, or to compare a bands older style with their latest effort when writing a review. There is also the learning factor of having compositions from all ages available for students of music, or those that would like to prepare a school presentation regarding musical styles, for example. Another great advantage of this technology is that artists now have the ability to offer their music for download and are able to completely cut out the need for a record label, virtually marketing their work directly to their fans via download or selling of albums on line. One of the best benefits is that file sharing now enables a consumer to listen to an entire album before they purchase. Gone are the days of record labels selling billions of albums by one-hit wonder artists to music fans who blindly accept the rest of the album only to find that it's complete garbage. The consumer is now armed with a tool that enables them to listen and make an educated decision before purchasing a CD.

Notwithstanding the benefits, the record companies are still doing their best to combat this latest technological craze. While KaZaA continues to sell itself off to the highest bidder and runs from country to country, Morpheus has caved to the pressure and is purportedly installing a system that will delete downloaded files after so many plays - which raises an entirely different debate about who has the right to pull items off of personally owned computers. Then Universal has decided to implement a copy protection system, rendering CDs completely unplayable on computer CDROMs, DVD players, Sega/Nintendo gaming systems, and Mac computers, as well as thwarting ripping and copying, making it impossible for consumers to enjoy their CDs in their personal MP3 players. Though, according to higher-ups at Universal, in hindsight they've realized this is a bad idea (ya think?) and are discussing other options. Lowering the outrageously priced CDs would be a step in the right direction to battle this little quandary (pigs will fly before that happens), and adding multimedia items, reviews and other such trappings would also make them more desirable as opposed to their downloadable counterparts.

Thus, for now, it appears that the file sharing world and the record exes are at a loggerhead. In the interim, happy downloading, ripping and burning, but don't forget to support your favorite artists by purchasing their CDs if you like what you hear. Meanwhile, I'm off to battle against the unjust software laws that say I have no right to install programs I've purchased on every computer in my household.