Idea of Theft Numbed by Internet
Today, the UK discussed enforcing a ban on illegal music and video downloading from the internet. As it stands right now, there is no real law in place to prevent such actions; this allows some 6 million people to continue downloading from sites that end in “.uk” without fear of prosecution.
One of the many issues that has come about because of the internet is the illegal downloading of both music and then later movies. People don’t seem to think that when they download from the internet, they are stealing. When in actuality, taking a movie from a store without paying for it is really no different. It is all stealing.
And while I said originally that it was movies and music, I really actually mean anything that can be put on the internet for other people to download. Computer programs are becoming a major download on the internet, and most of them are illegal. In some cases, this is worse. While movies and music usually don’t cost more than $10-20, some computer programs cost upwards of $1,000.
I know that if the UK passes the anti-illegal downloading laws, there will be a massive sigh of disappointment, heard probably around the world. But I really don’t understand why. Why do people feel they have the right to steal from other people? That logic just doesn’t make sense to me.