Pirating music.

It’s been around for a while and many students are guilty of this crime. Even before the launch of iTunes, teenagers were illegally downloading music . The reason behind this is simple: people didn’t want to pay for the music they listen to. Instead, people torrent the music for free, stealing from the artists. It’s the same thing as stealing a movie from a video store, stealing food from a grocery store, just theft in general.

It’s all wrong. The artists make this music because they love it and it’s their job. They get paid for making the music they do.  Pirating music defeats the purpose of all of this. If caught, the fine could be significant, depending on the lawsuit. A woman in Minnesota was fined $1.5 million dollars for downloading 24 songs. That’s an expensive two albums.

Yet, many students see no problem with this.

“I buy my music from iTunes, then I burn CDs for my friends, and vice versa,” senior Erin Shafranek said.

Some might argue that burning CDs and giving them to friends is not a problem, it’s just sharing music. On the other hand, it IS the same thing as burning a movie disc, and giving it to a friend. Most people notice the “FBI Warning” at the beginning of each DVD they play. But most don’t read it. To sum it up, it says that copying this disc is stealing. And a fine will ensue if caught.

“I download my music from iTunes when I don’t personally own the CD. Believe it or not, I respect the group I’m listening to, otherwise I wouldn’t be listening to their music,” junior Meredith Bergwall said.