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Millions of Canadians and Americans spend time everyday downloading and sharing music for their listening enjoyment. ... Hundreds of Americans are being sued for illegal downloading by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). ...
For over half a decade, people in sound recording and home video industries have been testing the online delivery systems that would allow people to download movies and music onto blank disks. ... Although there are now hundreds of different websites devoted to downloading, it all began with the creation of Napster by a college student, Shawn Fanning (Reid www. ... Ever since these programs became available, there has been a substantial decline in music sales. ... This dramatic decrease in sales makes it clear why record companies are so eager to stop downloading in both Canada and the United states.
There are a variety of laws and policies in Canada and the US that attempt to stop downloading. ... Although this is an American law, it affects Canadians since most of the downloading websites are American. Consequently, shutting them down through lawsuits will decrease the availability of music for Canadians who want to download. In the United States, the DCMA subpoenas companies like Napster to give out their subscriber information so people downloading from the sites can be sued (Hamilton www. ... Although privacy laws make it more difficult to get information about who is downloading illegally in Canada, it is still possible to locate and sue individual Canadians downloaders. ... This tax is supposed to help compensate artists and record companies for the money they are losing when people download their music or make copies of their CDs. ... Still, in both countries people who copy CDs are treated differently under the law from people who provide and download music (Hamilton www. ... It is more understandable that people in the United States are being sued for downloading and making CDs, but why in Canada where people are allowed to copy CDs? ...
Another legal difference between Canada and the United States related to the downloading debate is VCR taping. ... If a video library builder is not prosecuted for making copies of videos for his or her own use, then it follows that someone who downloads music for his or her own use should not be prosecuted either. Since these laws do not exist in the US, it is impossible to compare the video recording issue with the current downloading infringements. ...
Another reason downloading lawsuits should not come to Canada is because they are not and cannot be equitable. ... Two hundred and sixty-one Americans are being sued for downloading music when thousands of people are downloading everyday (www. ... It appears that a disproportionately high number of the people being sued and arrested for music piracy are students. ... One 12-year-old girl is being sued for downloading songs on her family computer (O’Brien www. ... The RIAA charged Sarah for downloading and sharing rock and hip-hop music when she only listens to classical music and her computer is not capable of running music piracy software. ... It seems impossible to reduce downloading through this method and therefore, it should not be used in Canada, as a way to eliminate music piracy.
There are other ways to stop music piracy, other than lawsuits. Why do record companies unfairly rely on lawsuits and other more invasive methods to stop downloading when there are other options available?
Approximate Word count = 2801
Approximate Pages = 11.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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