Illegal Downloading and Its Effect on the Entertainment Industry
ILLEGAL DOWNLOADING AND ITS EFFECT ON THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
The act of illegal downloading and its effect on the entertainment industry is an argument that has provoked many different reactions and opinions from many people in many different industries around the globe. In this essay the author will examine the different aspects to this argument, both positive and negative, and also share their own opinions and experiences. However, the main focus of the essay is on the side of the file sharer. How has illegal downloading really affected the entertainment industry? Is it true that all recording artists, movie directors and writers are better off without illegal downloading? The author of this essay suggests that this may not be the case.
The Internet has changed the entertainment industry and continues to do so, it has its pro’s & it has its con’s. The Internet has come a long way in the last ten years, with more and more people entering the online world and discovering its marvels. One of which being, downloading media such as movies & music. Illegal downloading has become rife in modern society, with broadband speeds getting faster & broadband becoming more readily available around the world. This in turn makes it easier to obtain such media. It wasn’t long before sites such as ‘Napster’ were born, which allowed people to download media for free from the Internet via peer to peer networking (P2P). People soon realised the potential for such capability, leading the creation of more and more similar sites such as ‘Limewire’ and ‘Bareshare’. Even though ‘Napster’ was shut down in 2001, this discontinuation made little impact on the industries fight against illegal file sharing, as others still operated, and indeed continue to do so today in some form or other. Torrents or ‘Warez’ sites are similar concepts. As opposed to one click download, the user downloads ‘torrents’, which are essentially links to a source from which the desired file is obtainable. The
The act of illegal downloading and its effect on the entertainment industry is an argument that has provoked many different reactions and opinions from many people in many different industries around the globe. In this essay the author will examine the different aspects to this argument, both positive and negative, and also share their own opinions and experiences. However, the main focus of the essay is on the side of the file sharer. How has illegal downloading really affected the entertainment industry? Is it true that all recording artists, movie directors and writers are better off without illegal downloading? The author of this essay suggests that this may not be the case.
The Internet has changed the entertainment industry and continues to do so, it has its pro’s & it has its con’s. The Internet has come a long way in the last ten years, with more and more people entering the online world and discovering its marvels. One of which being, downloading media such as movies & music. Illegal downloading has become rife in modern society, with broadband speeds getting faster & broadband becoming more readily available around the world. This in turn makes it easier to obtain such media. It wasn’t long before sites such as ‘Napster’ were born, which allowed people to download media for free from the Internet via peer to peer networking (P2P). People soon realised the potential for such capability, leading the creation of more and more similar sites such as ‘Limewire’ and ‘Bareshare’. Even though ‘Napster’ was shut down in 2001, this discontinuation made little impact on the industries fight against illegal file sharing, as others still operated, and indeed continue to do so today in some form or other. Torrents or ‘Warez’ sites are similar concepts. As opposed to one click download, the user downloads ‘torrents’, which are essentially links to a source from which the desired file is obtainable. The
References: Dara Lawlor, 2010, Illegal Downloading: A Matter of Life and Death for New Bands [Online Article], http://www.freemansjournal.net/issue/july2010/article/illegal-downloading-a-matter-of-life-and-death-for-new-bands [Accessed: 04/12/10, 21:13]. Amy Doan, 2000, Metallica Sues Napster [Online Article], http://www.forbes.com/2000/04/14/mu4.html, [Accessed: 25/11/10, 14:10] Sean Michaels, 2008, Illegal downloading is here to stay [guardian newspaper online], http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/aug/04/illegal.downloading.is.here.to.stay, [Accessed: 04/12/10, 22:08] Christine Young, 2006, Illegal downloads: helping artists or robbing them? PRO, [Online Article] http://voice.paly.net/node/16889, [Accessed: 05/12/10, 21:04] Ben Goldacre, The guardian, Saturday 6th June 2009, “Home taping didn’t kill music, [Online Article] http://www.badscience.net/2009/06/home-taping-didnt-kill-music/, [Accessed: 29/11/10, 14:21] Alex Cox [Film maker], 2000, “Steal This Film” [22:15-22:49] [Film], [Watched: 21/11/10, 20:19] Bibliography: steal this movie (motion picture), 2006, USA, Independent BitTorrent only [Watched: 21/11/10, 20:19]