Cost Benefit Analysis

A prevalent issue in our society that often makes me question my own moral standards is the topic of intellectual property rights, as it relates to music downloads via the internet. In recalling my youth, I remember when this issue was of no concern to major record labels that produce and distribute musical compositions. Originally, there was not a convenient or cost effective way for the consumer to make copies of vinyl records. When the magnetic cassette tape became the industry standard, the technology was now available for the masses to produce copies of their purchased music for distribution.

Established copyright laws that protect the recording industry's intellectual property from infringement have been in place for many decades. However, these corporations did not initially enforce them when new technology, that was easily accessible to public, became widely available. I suspect that this decision was based on cost benefit analysis of legally enforcing their rights. Moreover, the duplication process, by today's digital standards, was
Individuals who do not pay for the usage of these musical compositions are in violation of the laws of the land, and if it is determined that an individual infringed on their rights, the record companies should be compensated as established under the law. The moral aspect, in my opinion, is much more difficult to define in such stark terms. The theory of ethical relativism states that what is right is determined by the society as a whole. For almost thirty years, the duplication and sharing of music by individuals has been viewed as acceptable by societal norms, due in no small part to the inaction by these corporations to protect their intellectual property. To those ends, I feel that society does not believe that digital piracy is morally wrong, in spite of the fact these actions are known to be criminally