Most of my friends are thieves. Further, most of them are either unwilling
or unable to admit that their behaviour is theft. My friends aren't unusual
though: most people use the Internet to commit acts of thievery
these days and most don't
think they're doing anything wrong. The same person who would never even
think of taking a chocolate bar from a corner store without paying for
it steals hundreds or even thousands of dollars of media and software
without a second thought.
Music is what everyone thinks of when you mention stealing on the Internet.
I've been buying a lot of music lately, so that's going to be my pet example.
Luckily much of what I say can easily be applied to other forms of media
and software theft.
People who steal music often have rationalisations for their theft. Somehow,
they convince themselves that it's not wrong. I've compiled a list of the
most common ones I've heard or read:
- I buy lots of music. I only download what I don't want to buy.
In that case, you should listen to the music you own. Consider a company
which buys many cars; call it, say, Budget Rent-A-Car. Should Budget be
allowed to take other cars which they wouldn't have bought otherwise?
Why should music be different?
- I can't afford to buy everything I want.
I can't afford to buy everything I want either but you don't see me
going around stealing Power Mac G5s and kittens. If you
can't afford to buy something, you shouldn't have it.
- Information wants to be free.
No it doesn't.
- I only like one song.
So you get to steal it? If you really want to buy a single song try
the iTunes Music Store, if it's
available in your country. If it isn't, you're out of luck.
- I'll buy it eventually.
Will you? When? Have you set a date by which it will be purchased?
What happens if you don't?
- The music industry isn't fair to artists.
So instead the artist gets nothing? I'm all for artist liberation,
which is why I have been buying much of my music from independent
artists on
CD Baby, but stealing music
isn't on the path towards fair contracts between labels and artists.
- I wouldn't have bought it anyway.
Why should you have it? I won't buy a Sunfire but that doesn't imply
that I'm going to steal one so I can keep it in my driveway.
For a more in-depth discussion of this point, see
The Value of Art.
- I don't want to buy it. Anyways, stealing music is a victim-less
crime, and I'll never get caught.
The artists don't want you to have their hard work without paying for
it, and I'm sure they'll argue that there is an obvious victim for
your crime: them.
If you believe you'll never get caught, I have this wonderful bridge
for sale...
No matter what the rationalisation, theft is theft. If you're going to
steal, there's nothing that anyone can say which will change your mind, but
don't delude yourself into believing that you're not a thief. The fact
remains that by downloading music which you don't own you're
committing theft. You're no different from a teenager who steals a chocolate
bar from the corner store or a white-collar criminal who bilks elderly
people out of their life savings.
I think it would be be interesting if The Scarlet Letter was
implemented for people who steal media and software. That might bring people
to realise how widespread a problem this really is.
