Students: Downloading not unethical

WebIndia.com ^ | 7/4/05 | UPI

[wagglebee]

Well, they grew up with a president telling them that oral sex isn't actually sex, so it makes sense that their sense of right and wrong is a little clouded.

[ReadyNow]

Support civil disobedience.

[softwarecreator]

So stealing is not unethical?

Well, okay Skippy, give me the account number to your little trust fund and a copy of your signature and other pertinent ID and tell me if you still feel it's okay.

Oh, you ,mean it's okay only if YOU steal something you feel you are entitled to?  Something you feel you should not have to pay for?

[CaptainAwesome2]

Its definitely unethical but I just have a hard time feeling sorry for the victims.

[peteram]

Unfortunately, this survey shows students who engage in these illegal behaviors are likely to continue after college and when they enter the business world.

Yeah - just wait until they find that the company that they work for has to lay them off because the bottom line is being eroded by illegal downloading pirates.

[Xenophon450]

With victims like Madonna, Bono, Britney Spears, and dare i say Will Smith... HOW CAN YOU FEEL REMORSE???

[guitarist]

If it's illegal, it shouldn't be done. But the laws on copying should be relaxed. It is illegal, but it's not STEALING. Stealing is when you have something, I take it from you, and you LOSE IT. If I like your program, and I copy it, you don't lose anything. Only in theory--that you lose the royalties. But if I can't copy it, I still won't buy it. And I largely avoid paying for things! Since copying is illegal, I mostly stick to free music, free websites, and library books.

[HitmanLV]

Two-thirds of U.S. college students see nothing unethical about downloading digital copyrighted files without paying, a survey found.

Lets see these moral and intellectual giants do something really challenging: identify North Dakota on a map of the USA, Ireland one a map of Europe, and New Zeland on a map of the world.

[wagglebee]

How about name the first President of the United States, list our primary enemies in World War II.

Or, since they are supposedly so technologically "astute," tell us what this is:

[HitmanLV]

Lets be fair, no matter how great the disconnect between what they think they know, and what they actually know, they tend to have remarkable self esteem. :-)

[wagglebee]

they tend to have remarkable self esteem

It's easy to have high self-esteem when your entire life you've been taught things like:
There is no such thing as right and wrong.
There are no losers, everyone is a winner.

[HitmanLV]

On top of that, they are never really challenged. That's one reason I think lib types react so poorly when questioned - it's really something they can't cope with because they seldom have had to.

[Bobalu]

The copyright laws have been warped out of shape by big business payoffs to congress....

Copyright was never intended to be forever...and that is exactly what it has become.

Every time Micky Mouse was due to fall out of copyright the copyright terms were extended :-(

The founding fathers were against things like the 'Literary Guilds' of europe... but that is exactly what we have now.

If Copyright extensions had not been bought and paid for then I would support a reasonable term...say the same as for patents...for the advancement of culture and technology..etc.etc

But since the holders of vast copyright portfolios have perverted the system of copyrights by payoffs, I just don't give a damn who steals their stuff.... they come with unclean hands to accuse others of wrongdoing.

[GoLightly]

My son is in a band. The band is on tour right now. They sell copies of their latest *LP* at their shows. Previously, they sold copies of their single, tapes & CD's. They do not have a problem with people downloading their music, if people are interested & can find it. They have gotten fan e-mails from Japan & other countries.

The son is a newly minted teacher. His major (besides education) was history & he can run circles around most people in geography. He'd get a good laugh if he saw your posts in this thread.

Vinyl is not dead! It comes with pretty pictures stamped in it or cool colours now. Singles are more common than LPs.

[wagglebee]

I was being somewhat sarcastic and possibly overly stereotypical. However, your son is obviously an exception, while the norm is far more similar to what we have been describing.

[Republican Wildcat]

Typical post-modernist mindset "What's wrong for you is not wrong for me."

[Republican Wildcat]

That's a distinction without a difference.

[wagglebee]

One last thought, if two-thirds of college students think there is nothing wrong with doing something illegal, there is a problem. I am not saying that I did nothing wrong when I was in college, because I certainly did, but I knew it was wrong.

[birbear]

Here's my dilemma.

Years ago, I had a fairly extensive tape collection, mostly of 80's pop bands. Being a fool, I left most of the collection in my car, and it was subsequently stolen. (As tape collections often were in my neighborhood in the early 90s).

Most of the music I've downloaded are 80's hits... songs that I previously held in my collection.

Am I "stealing"?

This is actually something I've struggled with.

[birbear]

One last thought, if two-thirds of college students think there is nothing wrong with doing something illegal, there is a problem

I really think it's a gray area. (See my question above.) If somebody records a song that's being played on the radio, is that stealing?

Capitol Steps, a very funny comedy troupe, posts a song each week related to current events on their website. www.capsteps.com. One can download it as an Mp3 file. Most of my Capitol Steps collection was gathered this way. Is it stealing because I didn't actually pay for the album?

It's a real gray fair-use question in my mind.