You’ve just heard an awesome song on the radio that you absolutely have to add to your music library, but you don’t feel like dropping $0.99 at iTunes or Amazon, so you logged onto your favorite “free music” web site and downloaded the song. It seemed harmless enough. I mean, sure, the song was probably pirated, but it’s not like anyone got hurt, right?
Wrong.
Now, I’m not going to lecture you on how downloading pirated music opens your computer to viruses, or how the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) might slap you with fines of hundreds, thousands or even millions of dollars. I am going to say this: downloading pirated music is wrong, plain and simple.
You might think that downloading songs without paying for them doesn’t hurt anyone. But by not paying, you cheat the artists who record the songs, the songwriters who wrote the lyrics and the studios who distribute the music.
Yes, they might all be obscenely rich and not need the money, but under the law, they still deserve payment.
“But,” you might argue, “It’s only ninety-nine cents!” Exactly. It’s less than a dollar, maybe a bit more if the song is popular. They’re not asking you to pay through the nose for the music you enjoy so much.
Granted, college students aren’t swimming in money, but I have yet to meet a student here on campus who couldn’t spare a buck to buy his or her favorite song.
The fact of the matter is that downloading pirated music is against the law. When you download a pirated song, you are taking something that does not belong to you without paying for it. Not only is that illegal, it is also morally and ethically wrong.
Eastern is a Christian school, with a predominantly Christian student population. As a Christians, you should be holding yourself to a higher standard and following the morally and ethically correct path. In other words, you should not be downloading music without paying for it.
So the next time you hear a great song on the radio that you absolutely have to add to your library and your first thought is to turn to pirated music, stop for a minute and ask yourself, “Should I be doing this? Is this the moral, ethical and Christian thing to do?”
If you answer “no” to any of those, then put the mouse down, step back from the computer, take a deep breath and ask yourself if you really want the song badly enough to steal it. If you do really want it that bad, then find a web site where you can legally purchase it.