Our Dear Impending Doom

For a long time, I've wanted to post something about illegal media downloading for a lonnggg time. A kind of weird disclaimer, though...I do it, to a degree which I'm not comfortable to judge. I have downloaded a few songs that would be either difficult, expensive, or unreasonable to get otherwise. Almost all of these are in lesser quality than the original, but, anyway. If you don't want to listen to the (hopefully) wise words of a blatant hypocrite, I'm afraid I've just written something totally uninteresting to you. If, however, you don't care to be stupidly admonished by a blockhead, do read on.

Upon a slight thought of what I'm going to write now, I think this would be better as a discussion type thing, but, alas, I'll have to do with this medium.

I guess I'll just start out with an analogy which will seem, and may actually be, incompatable with this issue.

You draw a fairly complex drawing several times, and, by some miracle, people want to buy it. You sell all your copies, and then someone, realizing the potential it has, scans it, uploads it, and offers it for a price. You get nothing, except the original money he paid to you. He will likely gain double, triple, quadruple what you earned from selling it first-hand, even if he offers it for a lower price.

How would you like that?

Now, of course, this is entirely hypothetical and all, but that's, in essence, what's happening. People don't think the music they love is worth their money, merely because they can get it elsewhere for less or nothing. Now that I think about it, it makes me wonder whether that's why I have little money compared to those I know. Anyway.

It's stealing. It can't really be said simpler. If they offer their music free, no matter where you get it, you shouldn't have to charge anything. As it is, most music isn't free, and thus every copy ought to be paid for in full. If this doesn't happen, the music industry will eventually be unable to sustain itself. It's quite simple. If people don't understand that paying for things really does have an effect on the world they live in...then the world they live in will no longer be able to live. If everything could be acquired at no cost...

...I really can't imagine what'd happen then.

Your insane, hypocritical, and blockheaded writer,


!Noah!