Tossrock wrote:
Obviously it's illegal, so that doesn't need to be discussed.
However, I have to wonder if it is immoral - before I downloaded my first MP3, I'd never bought a CD/8-track/whatever. I still haven't. I am not, and wasn't before I started downloading music, a source of income for the music industry. They're not losing any profit via me downloading music. Is it immoral?
I'd be especially interested to see what Kirima's theory of natural law has to say about this.
First off, good distinction between illegal and immoral, since the two are not necessarily the same.
However, in this case (unauthorized downloading of copyrighted content for the purpose of continued enjoyment with no intention to compensate the rights holders), I would have to say that it is a form of encroachment (violation of property rights), which I am afraid does raise morality issues.
Generally speaking, music is a copyrighted "product" that is produced and distributed for profit just like video, books, software and so on, and the owner/rights holder has the right to determine and/or restrict the manner in which it is distributed. The lack of intent to purchase (= no loss of profit argument) is just one of many rationalizations and is also irrelevant -- it is still a violation of property rights.
The only ways that I can see illegal downloading not being immoral are as "try before you buy" (i.e. a "trial period" not unlike a money-back guarantee), or to obtain an early release of something you fully intend to buy anyway.
Example 1:
Before I spend what to me is a significant amount of money on music, videos, software, etc., I generally look for a free copy to try out first. (Note: I always use a free copy to avoid rewarding bootleg pirates.) If it meets my standards and I want to keep it or pass it on to a friend, then I buy an official copy. If not, then I delete it and the bastards that wasted my time don't get a red cent. I do this because I have been burned too many times by paying good money for something and then finding out partway through that it was complete crap. (Cheat me once, shame on you. Cheat me twice, shame on me.)
Example 2:
There are a couple of manga that I follow that are released in weekly/monthly manga magazines. However, I am not interested in the other 10-12 manga serialized in these magazines, and I also do not want to wait the 2-3 months for the individual manga volumes to come out. So I download scans of just those manga pages, and then buy the individual volumes when they come out, thus rewarding the author for creating a good work.
Now, one reason that I stick to this policy is that my work is freelance (creating a product for a fee) and I use a money-back guarantee policy myself, which IMO is an honorable way to conduct business. If a client does not like my work and does not want to pay, fine. I would not feel right accepting money for an unsatisfactory job anyway (although it may affect whether I accept work from that client again in the future). However, if I later found out that they had gone ahead and used my work anyway, I would have a problem with that, and they would also have serious legal problems.