LA Times: Students laugh, ignore RIAA suits

The LA Times has an interesting article on student reactions to the RIAA suits. I thought the most interesting parts were the quotes, especially in light of the social norms arguments I've been following:

"The lawsuits are a joke," Shawn says. "That doesn't stop me and my friends. It gives us something to joke about. When I'm downloading a song, I'll say, [sarcastically] 'Here I go breaking the law again. Hope I don't get sued.' "

...

"I have friends who say I should just buy the CDs," she says. "But I don't have the money."

....

"The way I see it, it's only illegal if you get caught," says Shawn, who proudly notes that he shares every song file on his computer.

....

"They're only going after the people who download a lot of songs," says Joy, a freshman at USC. "People with 1,000 or more songs on their computer. They don't care about people who only download every once in a while."

....

"Small bands like that make all their money from touring and merchandise anyway," he says. "They don't see any money from the sale of their albums. It's only the really big bands who are complaining about that."

....

"A lot of musicians show us their giant houses on 'MTV Cribs,' " says Nikki, a UCLA freshman, talking about the music network's hipper version of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." "Do [musicians] really think I'm hurting them if I don't buy their CD?"

....

Kelly, a UCLA student, said she downloaded one song a day on average last year. Since the lawsuits came out she hasn't downloaded anything. "I found out they were suing people and I stopped right away," she acknowledged.

....

But Kelly has no problem with friends who continue to download. Despite the noise created by the media and the recording industry, students are very casual, even apathetic, about their online habits. To them, downloading a song is like jaywalking.

"People are pretty open about it," says Rohan, a student at USC. "They'll sometimes brag about how much they download."

.....

He's sitting in his friend James' room, which is almost bare save for the desktop computer that also serves as a TV. "We all know it's stealing," James says. "When I first heard about the lawsuits, I stopped. But I started again because it's there and it's easy to do."

.....

Legitimate online music services, such as iTunes, are used infrequently, though a program called MyTunes allows students to trade music for free on the normally pay-only service.

"ITunes songs cost 99 cents," James says. "I'd buy the songs if they had CD quality, but why pay when I can get it for free?"

....

The record labels say illegal downloading endangers the future of American pop culture, while copyright law reformers say the improving technology should force the aging entertainment industries to adapt to a changing world. Either way, it's a movement that is revolutionizing major American industries. But none of the students who downloaded at USC or UCLA felt they were part of anything resembling a movement or a cause. They simply want their music the easiest and cheapest way possible.

"I'm sort of lazy," says one student. "I just don't want to spend the money or go out to the store."

Comments

[Cypherpunk]

Lawrence Solum had a comment a few weeks ago: "It is socially unacceptable to take the position that unlawful P2P filesharing is morally wrong." ( http://lsolum.blogspot.com/2004_01_01_lsolum_archive.html#107464058060655049 )

I can say from personal experience that this is true, at least in large portions of the online community (Solum's observation applied to law students). You'll have to look hard to find a blogger arguing that it's wrong to share songs because it violates the expressed desires of the people who created the music.

[Hooligan]

Harr! The pathetic RIAA will never dent the piracy move. Even if they get everyone in the US, there are still millions of sharers in the rest of the world, where they can't be touched. And those that they do get just go right back to sharing.

[Drew Neilson]

Look, I don't like the move toward restricting my right over how I can listen to my music. I buy all of my music and I'd like the freedom to listen to it in my car on CD format, on my computer in MP3, and while jogging in MP3. I should be able to do what *I* want with my music short of giving it to someone else. But freedom comes with responsibility. If I want to do whatever I want with my music I must assume the responsibility that I will not distribute copies to others. If I do distribute, I lose my freedom. Freedom: if you don't use it responsibly, you lose it.

[sleepy]

Stop the sites that are used for filesharing, or stop complaining about people sharing files. It's so easy and convenient to bring up a program and get the songs you want. If I could do the same and get money i'd be a thief, that's why banks are secure. Secure the music, stop the thieves?