Illegal Downloads

Paper Summary:

The paper introduces and analyzes the topic of ethics in American business. Specifically, the paper discusses who should be punished for downloading illegal music. The paper argues against the practice and contends that downloading music online is illegal unless one pays for the music. The paper also contends that "down loaders" know the act is illegal, and choose to do it anyway, making it both legally and ethically wrong. The paper further contends that illegal downloads harm record companies and recording artists and violate the intellectual property rights of the individuals who created the song. The paper concludes that stealing music is like stealing someone's special creation, it is simply wrong, ethically, morally, and legally.

From the Paper:

"In addition, stealing music is a known crime, and music companies have been filing suit against people for many years, making it common knowledge that downloading music is a crime. The Minnesota trial was the first lawsuit to make it all the way to trial, however. Downloaders paying thousands of dollars in fines to recording companies have settled all the other suits. In one case, recording companies sued the parents of two under-18-year-olds, and the parents eventually settled with the record company. In this case, since the children were not of legal age, the companies went for the people who owned the computers. However, in most normal cases, these would not be the people responsible, because anyone who owns a computer knows that you cannot control family members and friends 24 hours a day, 7 days a week when they are on the computer."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Editors. (2007). Minn. woman to pay for illegal music downloads. Retrieved from the NPR.org Web site: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=15037223 20 Oct. 2007.
• Editors. (2007.) Terms & conditions. Retrieved from the Napster.com Web site: http://home.napster.com/info/terms.html 20 Oct. 2007.
• Silverthorne, S. (June 21, 2004). Music downloads: Pirates--or customers? Retrieved from the Harvard Business School Web site: http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/4206.html 20 Oct. 2007.

More papers on Illegal Downloads:

• Article Review # 120829 : "Music Downloads"
• Article Review # 73622 : "Illegal Music Downloads"
• Term Paper # 95330 : "RIAA - Internet Music Downloads"

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