For years, music has been downloaded illegally. It’s easy to say that the reason why people
continue to do it is because they don’t want to pay the prices for songs and
albums, many artists on iTunes and Amazon MP3 have been selling their music for
$1.29 per song, which is true. A more
accurate reason would be that it’s convenient to download illegally like how it
was more convenient to get a burned CD from a friend or making a mix tape by
putting a microphone next a radio. A
question that comes to mind though is, do the people who commit the crime
understand what the results of their actions are?
The truth is no. Many
people do not consider the results of their actions. Immanuel Kant (1700s) came up with an ethical
principle known as “categorical imperative.”
It states that people should consider the result of what would happen if
everyone were to do what someone else does.
In this case, it is important to consider the danger of downloading
music illegally. The result of doing so
causes artists lose money on the content they created.
Some people refuse to pay for songs because they don’t want
to fund record companies, since they gain the majority of money. Whether that’s the case or not, it is still a
crime to steal music. Though artists do
not receive most of the money, downloading illegally reduces the amount of
money that they get. It could possibly
be the reason for why ticket prices for concerts are expensive. Aristotle explained that in order to behave
ethically, they must know what they’re doing.
People also need to have a moral decision to act ethically. Does that mean what they’re doing is
ethically correct? There’s no right or
wrong answer. Ethics primarily go by a
person’s morals and values which vary from person to person. Overall, is it okay to download music
illegally? It is against the law since
stealing is stealing no matter what medium a person gets the content from. It’s also important to take into
consideration the people that are hurt by these actions. Is it really worth reducing a person’s
standard of living just to get a couple for free? It’s best to consider one’s actions before
attempting them.
