An aspect of intellectual property - from a digital immigrant’s point of view.

Social media has become a part of everyday life. The internet allows us to easily and quickly access, exchange and share information on a worldwide basis. Digital photographs for instance, are taken and instantaneously posted on the Internet for the world to see. Downloading and uploading; sharing your favorite artist’s last album or uploading the upcoming film so that all your friends get to see it too. The social media raises intellectual property challenges that are new and that still have not been addressed  by courts. Many people will find themselves not as law-abiding as they first thought. Many of them willingly share music, photos, films, TV shows and video games that aren’t theirs to share, watch or listen to.

According to a survey done by the authors of the book Born Digital, nearly ninety-90- per cent of a Digital Native sample group engaged in illegal downloading. They downloaded, amongst several other things, music from a number of sites and they did not seem to think their action was wrong in any way. The survey showed that these Digital Natives were in fact accepting and condoning casual piracy. It leaves me wondering; is this due to the fact that they don’t know any better, or is the line between right and wrong not as obvious anymore? What would the findings be if they had asked a sample group of Digital immigrants?

I reckon that most adults still recognize the line between right and wrong and understand the consequences of theft. But when it comes to the internet, and the matter of down- and uploading and sharing, I am not convinced this line is so obvious to all adults either. The internet makes stealing so easy and “painless”. Isn’t it true that today the advantages significantly outweigh the possible consequences? Where does that line really fall?  How, and when, will the law be enforced and by whom?

For many youngsters, using the internet is a social activity, allowing them to keep updated and keep in touch with the rest of the World.  It offers them the opportunity to interact with others in a variety of ways and the chance to get hold of much wanted music, films, games and TV shows. I do not believe that youngsters of today do not know the difference between right and wrong. I do believe, however, that they simply do not know any other or simpler way, to get hold of the stuff they want. Unlike when I was young, there are hardly any “offline” record shops left. I believe” the right” and “the wrong” feel similar to them somehow, especially due to the fact that they are both accessed through desktop clients.

The Internet has made everything so accessible. It’s so easy, perhaps too easy, to get hold of intellectual property without paying for it. There is no shop-assistant looking you in the eye, and in the end it doesn’t feel like a “theft” either.  Why? Maybe because you do not have to enter a shop and steal an actual physical product. Unlike the CD cases in your bookshelf, files downloaded to your computer don’t necessarily feel like” real products”? They are "just" files... And  honestly,  is there not reason to believe that educators and parents have not been the best role-models or teachers either ? 

Music really makes me feel good and often brings back many good and precious memories. Two days ago I received a music CD, which I ordered on the internet, in the mail. While I sat there in the living room enjoying the music and reading the lyrics, it struck me that I was actually enjoying the result of someone else's hard work. She must have been practicing over and over, day in and day out. I’m truly happy that some people are able, and willing, to follow their dreams and invest the time and money needed to create music for me and others to enjoy.

However, would I not enjoy the music just as much if I just downloaded it for free from one of the many sites on the internet? Did I really just buy the product because I know that stealing is wrong? Would I have bought the record if I knew that I wouldn’t get caught  "stealing" it ? Should I continue buying my CDs or not?  Well, I  believe that, by buying the CD I have supported that artist, making it possible for her to keep making good music and living her dream. And even more importantly, by buying the product I have shown the artist some, much deserved, respect. I think that actually paying for the CD is a way of telling her that the product she made really meant something to me. 

              

Is it the industry itself that is to blame? Should record companies and film studios spend more time, and money, developing services that reduce the spread of piracy? In just a few years, services like Spotify, Wimp and Itunes have become very popular. They benefit from the possibilities that the internet offers in terms of making music, amongst other things, available to listeners within seconds, at  reasonable prices. Will services like these appeal to youngsters in future too ? I most certainly do not think we will manage to convince Digital Natives to retreat to CDs.

My father- in- law, who is now 67 years old, recently discovered that he could buy music notes on several sites on the internet. They only cost him a small sum of money and he now logs on to the internet and buys them on a regular basis. I am quite certain that he has never searched the web to find out if he could get the same music notes for “free”. Why is that?  Is it because he is not aware of the fact that a quick search on Google would give him a variety of opportunities? Is he just not familiar with the possibilities or has it never been an option? Or is it  just due to the fact that he knows that downloading the music notes without paying would be stealing? What would YOU do? Would you pay for the music notes, or would you just spend the extra 30 seconds it would take to search, find and download them for free? 

In the end, I believe that what separates the pirate from the buyer, the law-abiding from the lawbreaking, is each and every individuals’ ethical and moral compass. So, while you adjust your compass I am going to enjoy my newly bought CD, knowing that I did the right thing. To steal or not to steal; isn’t that the question?