Filesharing is NOT Stealing

**themixedmedias** · 03-09-2008, 06:40 AM

Hello peeps. I made a Public Service Announcement regarding Filesharing and the attempt by the RIAA to assosciate filesharing AS stealing.

Anyway, it's gone pretty viral on youtube and wired.blog has covered it as well. I just found this forum and I thought it would be a nice way to say hello so please don't take this as spam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPfSOvhscjY&feature=user

**Skiz** · 03-09-2008, 06:44 AM

You can post all the cute videos you want, but downloading copyrighted music is stealing.

Fact.

Welcome to FST.

**Sonnentier** · 03-09-2008, 06:54 AM

Originally Posted by Skizo

downloading copyrighted music is stealing

Nah, thats their propaganda saying ;P

You don't take an item away, you also don't take money away.
Refusing to pay is not the same as stealing.

Correctly it should be called differently although financially it could be similar effect..

**Skiz** · 03-09-2008, 08:14 AM

Originally Posted by Sonnentier

Originally Posted by Skizo

downloading copyrighted music is stealing

Nah, thats their propaganda saying ;P

You don't take an item away, you also don't take money away.
Refusing to pay is not the same as stealing.

Correctly it should be called differently although financially it could be similar effect..

You may want to research some very basic copyright laws.

Although what the thread title states can be true, most times it is not. There are plenty of applications and programs which are allowed to be freely distributed around the web, but copyrighted music, apps, movies, etc. which are uploaded and downloaded without the permission of their respective owners is copyright infringement and thus illegal. Period.

You can dispute it or call it propaganda all you want, but you'll be fighting a losing battle. If you truely believe what you're saying, I highly suggest you educate yourself on what the law states is allowed.

**Sonnentier** · 03-09-2008, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by Skizo

but copyrighted music, apps, movies, etc. which are uploaded and downloaded without the permission of their respective owners is copyright infringement and thus illegal

No doubt, it's copyright infringement and this is not allowed by the law.

But what I meant was more the term itself, 'stealing'.

You may be right because there is actually this 'no electronic theft act', and theft equals stealing.
Anyway, every time I hear about 'stealing' it's a statement from right holders angry about unauthorized distribution.

When we talk about filesharing I don't like to call it 'stealing' because the media was produced to be copied for the consumers - so we don't rip information that wasn't intended for us, also we don't take products away from other people. The only problem is the financial situation, thus I would prefer to call it differently - damaging the producer's economics or something, but not 'stealing'..

I always have the impression with 'stealing' they want to affect our moral concepts. We would then consider downloading to be the same as stealing from the store in the neighborhood - where most people would agree it's unfair for the owner.

But in my opinion this is an ideologically driven view with the aim to gather better economic situation..

**Disme** · 03-11-2008, 09:37 AM

Filesharing is stealing ... you are taking away $$$ from people. no matter how you look at that, or what your motives are ... it's still stealing. From a ethical, moral or judicial point of view.

It's like when you write a book yourself. You dedicte a lot of time to do so ... invest in a publisher, get the book printed and than you see that your book isn't being sold because it is all over the internet in electronic form.
I bet when that would happen to you you would also call this stealing.

Filesharing is one thing ... I do it myself but I think we should always be aware it isn't really ethical.

The illegal character isn't always there because that varies from country to country. In some countries downloading isn't illegal but uploading is.

**Barbarossa** · 03-11-2008, 10:07 AM

Filesharing is not stealing.

It's more like finding.

It's like, you're on the web, and ooh look, you've found a song!

Finders keepers!

The record companies are not losing money from me, because if I hadn't found all these songs, I wouldn't have bought them, I'd have just gone without

**dlxldxld** · 03-11-2008, 10:26 AM

i dont know what they wanted to say in this video..
bus filesharing is stealing!! why do you think that if you take and download
from the internet this is not stealing?!
you "take" this things on free insead pay for it!..
so.. sorry to tell you man.. this video is bullshit!