free music downloads may lead to a high price to pay

I have always been aware of copyright issues and the works of it. In middle school, they told us to always cite our sources and not take a work and just re-word it. The consequences were not as harsh as they are in college, but all in all it is, nevertheless, a serious issue. From the copyright presentation I learned that the copyright law was established in the 18th century. I didn't know it dated all the way back to the 1700s! I also learned that the copyright law covers the creator's life, plus an additional 20 years. I think it's great there's a law that exists to protect artists alike. I, myself, am a photographer and post my pictures online on Flickr. On Flickr there's an option that you can choose to prevent others from stealing your pictures. I checked that option because I find it completely unfair that someone can take my picture and manipulate it or use it in their projects and whatnot.

Illegal music downloading and peer to peer file sharing have been a problem of our society for awhile. However, recently many universities and colleges throughout the nation are taking the issue seriously and spreading the word of the high price students may have to pay sooner or later. The music industry loses up to $10 million a year to piracy. In 2004, the FBI gave Hollywood movie studios, music companies, and software makers the permission to afflix an FBI warning label on their production. The warning label was created in hopes of detering consumers to making illegal copies. The label states: "FBI Anti-Piracy Warning: Unauthorized copying is punishable under federal law." In other words, the FBI will track down those who illegally copy and share the files. Since then, I don't find much change in illegal downloading and file sharing. I mean a couple thousand people have already been sued by the music or film industry, but the label is not stopping them. There are still millions of people who continue to download and share music and dvds. The FBI warning label is only a label. When buying a new CD or DVD, most just glance at the label and move on with their lives. I don't think illegal downloading will ever stop unless the music and film industry decide to drop down the prices a couple dollars. The main reason why people download music is because CDs can be so pricey nowadays. Why buy something when you can find it for free? Personally, I don't download music from peer to peer programs. I did in the past 4 years ago, however. It's what caused my computer to breakdown. I had to get a new computer because of it. I get my music from itunes or I just buy CDs from the store. I believe it's unfair to download because each song you download from a certain artist, that artist's music label is losing money. Also, Trinity seems pretty serious about turning students in. I would not want to pay $13,000+ just for downloading a single song!