File Sharing

There is certainly no denying that the file sharing boom of programs like Napster, Kazaa, and LimeWire have sharply declined sales of music, movies, and more for the entertainment industry. However, as a young American guilty of "sharing" I'm not in any position to point the finger of guilt at anyone. Granted, I am probably more old fashioned than most because when it comes down to the music of my favorite artists, I always seem to bite the bullet and buy the actual CD. For most other music however, I am one of the millions that subscribes to LimeWire to retrieve hundreds of the latest hits in seconds. When it comes to solving this problem, I'm not sure that there is a logical way to do so...at least not in the near future. Technology, advanced as it may be, is not to the point that it can police every individual's activities online. The book discussed the idea of copyright chips that would work almost as an electronic tracker-monitoring, observing, recording, and charging for every online exchange of what is called " intellectual property". This, like most things high-tech, will have its loop holes, and once they are exposed, a new method of policing will have to be enforced. It would be nice to rely on the honesty and goodness of "the people" not to illegaly acquire the work of these multi-millionaire artists. But honestly, as a college student making a little over minimum wage, it can be somewhat difficult to really see how sharing some songs online is really going to take food off of Beyonce's table. I really do not want to sound completely insensitive, but I fear these may be the similar views of the majority of those who share files online. It's easy, fast, and of course inexpensive. All of these qualities provide a lot of motivation to keep the file sharing process alive...making it that much more difficult to combat the trend.