The Abandoned Arts

        Most people who download music, software, and films all claim similar things, such as "pirating isn't the same as going into a store and taking something from the shelf." and that "file sharing is simply that, file sharing, it isn't theft." Pirates also complain about high costs of buying the copyrighted materials, and others claim that the companies that produce the products that they pirate are rich enough, and they they don't need any more money. I used to agree. I used to have hundreds of illegal games and movies, and literally tens of thousands of songs. But it wasn't right.

        I agree that going out and buying a CD or DVD or a video game can get a little pricey, but they cost so much for a reason. What I never stopped to consider is just how many people actually put their work into these products. It's not just a faceless corporation that your ripping off when you download a song, It's hundreds of hard working individuals who were involved in creating the finished product. Microsoft was my favorite company to rip off, because I loathe Bill Gates. But you have to consider the people such as programmers, graphic designers, sales representatives, the market analysts, the product testers, and even the lowly factory employee.

        You may think it's a joke, that downloading can't cause any serious damage, but it really is no joke, the damage is absolutely disgusting. In 1994 piracy cost $15 billion dollars in lost revenue for software publishers. That's roughly 300, 000 times more than what an average person makes in a year that these companies were losing in 1994. Since then piracy has become a much more serious problem due to developments such as broadband, and peer to peer networks. Did you realize that due to the loses that software companies suffer, they were unable to produce 1,600 high quality games last year alone.

        It's not just the companies and employees of pirated products that are effected. It's also the economy, and even the government. It is absolutely appalling how much peoples ignorance costs the economy. In 1992 global piracy cost the United States $11.2 billion dollars in lost revenue. If you have trouble comprehending what that means, well, it means that retailers in the united states lost $11.2 billion dollars because of piracy in 2002. Think about how that effects those companies and even their employees. It really isn't pretty. And that is only the United states, think of other countries in the world, and how it effects them. And how does it effect the government you ask? Well, there is something that we call tax, that we pay when we make purchases, however, because you would rather steal than to pay for a product, the government does not collect this tax. Normally I would be glad to see government suffer along with people like Bill Gates, but the government will just up taxes to make up for these loses. Just for your own personal information, the U.S. government is loosing billions of dollars in taxes due to piracy.

        Piracy is even effecting you directly. It is costing roughly 130,000 jobs annually. Every single piece of pirated material you download is hurting the economy, the more you support pirated materials, the more frequent illegitimate material will become. This will have seriously damaging effects as time progresses. Even the music industry, the industry which I felt was absolutely not in need of any more revenue, is suffering seriously due to piracy. Do you realize that it costs roughly $1 million dollars to produce an album, and that 85% of the albums produced don't even generate enough income to make a profit. They rely completely on the few big hits to carry their industry. I find it absolutely frightening to think of what will happen in the future should piracy continue in the way it has. I believe it is absolutely unconscionable to support piracy in any way.