Ortega 1 Chris Ortega Professor Lewandowski English 122 2:25PM TR March 17, 2009 File Sharing: A False Crime

You may have once heard a new song on the radio that you had never listened to before, wanting to hear more, you went on the internet to look for more by the artist. You end up finding the artists album for free on the internet and download it, not thinking anything of it, but the music industry would think otherwise. They feel that music should be protected from any form of sharing, and even go as far as using methods that often affect the people that would be paying for the music in the first place. When looking at the music industry, the techniques and procedures that they are using affect both the consumers of the original product and the file sharers alike, and these corporations should find new methods that embrace file sharing, along with getting rid of methods that affect the consumers use of the product. Chris, thanks for resending this as a collaborator. I was hoping you'd check your gmail over break. Yeah! This is a good start to the paper as you set up a common scenario to begin to help you explain what the problems are with the music industry and how consumers are affected. As I read this, the essence of the intro is really good. I did have some revision comments more about punctuation that might help enhance your point. First, at the end of the scenario you have a phrase tagged onto the very end of the sentence, "...but the industry would think otherwise." Try making that phrase its own sentence and maybe even add an exclamation point to show emphasis. Second, I could see you have a two sentence thesis. Perhaps end the first sentence after the word "alike" and then start the second sentence with "These corporations..." These are really small changes, but attention to the details helps you emphasize your main points.-April Lew 3/26/09 9:20 AM Many of the methods that the The first time spell out RIAA and put the abbreviation in parentheses. Then everytime thereafter you are free to use the abbreviation. -April Lew 3/26/09 9:25 AMRIAA uses to catch file sharers are often even anti-privacy. Hiring groups such as Media Sentry, they use the programs that file shares often use, such as LimeWire, and use features that would be used to locate files in order to see how many files a person is sharing, this feature also lists the IP address of the said file sharer is using. "While the names of the people associated with particular IP addresses are not public, it is easy to find out which addresses are registered to each provider. Using public, online databases, like those at arin.net or samspade.org, Media Sentry then locates the name of the Internet-service provider" (Rampell). These methods often find many users which have no idea the program is running on their computers, let alone that they are sharing all their music. On top of this, Media Sentry cannot tell when someone is actually downloading the songs, only that they are being offered for download. Many criticize the way these file sharers are being found and feel that the RIAA is using courts to scare people into siding with them. Lory R. Lybeck, a lawyer in Washington who takes on cases such as these, has this to say about these cases. good set up (taking the quote to the party). Try using a colon after "cases" to lead into the quote. -April Lew 3/26/09 9:26 AMFederal courts have important business to do. These cases arent real lawsuits. Whats happening is that the RIAA is using the federal courts as a means of running a national or international threat campaign (qtd. in Ward). Through all the cases that he

has taken on, many of the people that have been sued are people with limited incomes, and often times, 5 percent to 20 percent of the information used in these cases is incorrect. Many users even feel that the music industry is missing the point, and many say that they use illegal downloading as a way of finding music that they would have never bought in the first place. In fact, according to research by Tiscali, a internet service provider in London, "Only a hard core of about 15% said they wouldn't stop and they downloaded illegally because they didn't want to pay" (qtd. in Leahul). With this information it should be seen that the music industry should embrace file sharers rather than marking them as a threat. The music industry is currently sticking to the point that file sharing is hurting their business, but many musicians feel otherwise on the issue. Trent Reznor, front man of Nine Inch Nails feels the opposite about file sharing. Personally, I would like people to support artists, Reznor said. But should I be angry at the audience that wants to hear music so much, an audience that is so passionate about hearing it they go online to get it two weeks before the music debuts? No, I want them to be that way (qtd. in Sandoval). He is also choosing the file sharing route that many others are using to promote their music, and he is doing it in a new way. Recently he has been giving his album away for free online, allowing his website viewers to download a digital copy of his album for free, then offering a more hard copy of the albumthe CD, for money. Reznor has noticed a big increase in sales when going this route and he doesnt have to deal with the music distributers anymore. Many others feel the same way on the issue, especially about DRM. Miriam Rainsford, a musician, goes far to say that she feels that her music would be locked in this file sharing cycle forever due to DRM, As a musician I find the notion of using DRM technology abhorrent--not only because of the risk that my works could be locked up indefinitely by technological means, despite my signing a non-exclusive distribution contract. Under anti-circumvention laws such as the DMCA and the forthcoming EUCD, it could well prove impossible for me to share my own work with my friends, or to distribute DRM-controlled content to another publisher. These methods that the RIAA are using put a damper on what the musician loves: sharing their music with the world. It causes the music to be locked up to one content provider and impossible to share with others due to the legality. These methods that the RIAA are using are plain ridiculous and I would go as far as saying that many are seeking their own ways to distribute their music, often completely avoiding the music distributers they have worked with for years. This paragraph reminds me of the experiment RadioHead did a year or so ago where they released their new album and listeners could donate but they didn't have to. What they found is that people generally donated about 1.00 per song. But the band didn't have to give a cut to the record company. Good paragraph, though. I think the quote fromt he musicians are strong b/c they help the reader see that some particularly famous musicians are wanting to break the mold. April Lew 3/26/09 9:30 AM And with these changes in musicians point of view, the music industry is going to have to do something to continue to keep customers. The music industry is getting very close to what could be profitable in the long run, but are missing the mark when it comes to colleges. The RIAA currently wants colleges to specifically offer alternatives to file sharing and many feel this is the wrong way to go. Steve Worona, the director of EDUCAUSE, an association that promotes information technology, feels that "The law should require that schools educate their students

about legal downloading alternatives and remain open to partnerships, not force schools to make a commercial arrangement with a particular download service" (qtd. in Greenwood). I don't think I realized that was going on. -April Lew 3/26/09 9:32 AMThe RIAA is going too far when they are trying to force colleges to offer a solution for illegal downloading, and what they should do is offer their own means of downloading at a reasonable price. By offering these services, the music industry could get ahead of what is coming in the future, and the fact is that many feel that the CD is outdated and are moving to the internet as a means of downloading. According to NPD Group, a marketing firm that tracks statistics in the music industry, many users are paying for digital music rather than the physical means such as CDs. "The number of Internet users paying for digital music increased by just over 8 million in 2008 to 36 million Internet users. wow! -April Lew 3/26/09 9:33 AMPurchases of online digital music downloads increased by 29 percent since last year; they now account for 33 percent of all music tracks purchased in the U.S. NPDs Digital Music Study, an annual tracking study covering the music industry, also revealed that there were nearly 17 million fewer CD buyers in 2008 compared to the prior year." (NPD) With this information, the music industry can clearly see that what the consumer wants is digital downloads at decent prices. Many CDs are generally overpriced, and only have one or two songs that the buyer of the CD likes, where as online, you can pick and choose which songs you want to hear and listen instantly to the song. The music industry should really learn from their mistakes in the past, and they have been making it a point that they are not suing anyone directly anymore. Simon Dumenco, a journalist for Advertisement Age, talks about how internet radio stations such as Pandora really help people find new music, but the music industry is trying to force royalty rates that even traditional radio stations do not have to pay. Dumenco also mentions a case where music labels pulling entire albums from iTunes, due to the fact that they are selling well, in order to boost actual album sales. He goes on to say that customers often do not want to buy full albums, but just a select few songs on the album, making a connection that many would agree with "Your neighborhood drug dealer wouldn't do so well either if he forced all his customers to buy in bulk" (Dumenco). That isn't to say that some people in the music industry aren't looking for other ways to offer their music. Megabop Digital is currently using more modern ways to get their artists music out there. "Building and tapping into new and established online communities and providing connections to sites such as MySpace, Bebo, Facebook, Hi5, Rivmixx and Twitter are essential for the Mbop team to reach out to people who share common musical interests and provide them with information on releases, product or artist information, music news and general musical matters" (Music Week). Using these new means of reaching customers, Megabop has had a huge success in promoting their clients and are constantly looking for new ways to "exploit" the latest technology. As you start to go into the conclusion saying that music companies should offer alternatives, I think the reasoning about "why" is clear. Perhaps suggest a specific way or two that the industry could transition from the notion of needing to sell albums to the notion of filesharing music to really become something the consumer wants. -April Lew 3/26/09 9:34 AM The music industry should really look into alternative means of offering music to customers, and embrace file sharing, not as a enemy, but as a means to spread music to people that would have never heard the music in the first place. Using these avenues will help out the music industry in the long run, and eventually even be profitable. By moving music delivery specifically to the

internet, it will remove the cost of manufacturing CDs, the cases, and the paper used in booklets, along with having a bigger market reach due to selling specific songs. If they do this soon enough, and stop wasting resources figuring out how to "stop" file sharers, who knows where the music industry will be in the future.

Chris, I think this is a really interesting paper as you talk about a product and a technology whose changes are ripe for the picking. It's obvious that the old notions of selling whole albums has gone by the wayside and that consumers are more interested in choice, sharing, and digital technology. Here are some thoughts for revision. One, I think you could lift some of the key words from your thesis and use the words in the transitions/topic sentences for your body paragraphs. For instance, the thesis mentions that the "techniques and procedures affect consumers.." Use the same words in a topic sentence, maybe something like this. Example: One way the techniques affect consumers is by .... I think the use of key words provides clues for the reader as they follow your argument and the key words provide continuity as well. Here's another thought: It might be good to interview some college students to see what their file sharing habits are like and then ask them about how the industry should change. That could be a way to set up the "solution" part of the paper. On some small things: with abbreviations, be sure to give the full name of the organization, etc. and then put the abbreviation in parentheses the first time. Every time after that you can use just the abbreviation. And even smaller, take a look at the need for apostrophes to show possession. This is a really good start and shows a good blending of outside sources to prove you argument. -April Lew 3/26/09 9:36 AM Works Cited "ADVERTORIAL: MUSIC MARKETING IN THE DIGITAL AGE." Music Week 14 Feb. 2009: 17-17. Dumenco, Simon. "How the music business spent the summer killing itself." Advertising Age 08 Sep. 2008: 62+. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 04 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.skyline.cudenver.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=34248 053&site=ehost-live>. Greenwood, Bill. "Campus Crackdown: Law Targets Music Pirates." Information Today Feb. 2009: 1+. Leahul, Dan. "Illegal music downloaders undeterred by music industry threats - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic." Brand Republic. 24 Feb. 2009. 03 Mar. 2009 http://www.brandrepublic.com/News/883683/Illegal-music-downloaders-undeterredmusic-industry-threats/. NPD Group. "The NPD Group: Continued CD Sales Declines in 2008, but Music Listening and Digital Downloads Increase." Continued CD Sales Declines in 2008, but Music Listening and Digital Downloads Increase. 17 Mar. 2009. NPD Group. 17 Mar. 2009 http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_090317a.html. Rainsford, Miriam. "A Musician's Take on File Sharing, DRM, and Copyleft Licensing | O'Reilly Media." OpenP2P.com. 10 June 2003. 04 Mar. 2009 <http://www.openp2p.com/pub/a/p2p/2003/06/10/musician_pov.html>. Rampell, Catherine. "To Catch a Song Thief: Inside the Anti-Pirate Patrol." Chronicle of Higher Education 54.37 (23 May 2008): A11-A11. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 05 Mar. 2009 <http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.skyline.cudenver.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=32185 716&site=ehost-live>. Sandoval, Greg. "Trent Reznor: Take my music, please." CNET News. 07 Oct. 2007. 04 Mar. 2009 <http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9807934-7.html>. Ward, Stephanie Francis. "Plaintiff to RIAA: Download This!." ABA Journal 93.11 (Nov. 2007): 14-15. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 04 Mar. 2009 <http://0search.ebscohost.com.skyline.cudenver.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27539 833&site=ehost-live>.