“But everybody is doing it” appears to be one of the popular excuses that children are using in Europe and elsewhere when asked why they are illegally downloading music and movies, according to a recent study. And when they say “everybody,” often times they mean their parents too. So while these kids understand that they could get in trouble, they brush off simply by using the popular cliché “everybody is doing it, why can’t I?”
Those who decide to download songs and movies from the Internet have other reasons besides the fact that others are doing it too. One of the other big retorts is that movies and music are too expensive, and those who download illegally wouldn’t purchase them anyways, so there’s no loss for the artists. Another is that the claims that illegal downloading hurts artists “lacks credibility.”
Additional findings from the study:
- Most children surveyed said they’d continue downloading illegally
- Children were more worried about downloading a virus than they were getting into legal trouble
- Most children surveyed use the Internet several times a day
- Most have their own mobile phones and use them unsupervised
With this information and the findings of the survey that parents and their children are downloading music and movies illegally, is it a lost cause for the recording industry? Or will this knowledge just fuel their ambition to catch as many people as possible, no matter how old or young?
Source: Reuters
I download music/movies illegally because I don’t wanna get screwed over like google video just did to people.
“oh yeah you bought that legally with your own money.. but since its shutting down now we’re gonna make it so you can’t watch what you bought anymore.. sorry heres a $2 coupon..”
I was planning to say that the RIAA/MPAA would loose credibility entirely if they took a 9 year old kid to court. However as they have none left they’re prety much free to do that and suffer no loss. Regardless as to what they do and to who they won’t win, methods will simply become more widespread as they publicise it (even my granddad, after seeing on the news about piracy, asked me if I could tell him how to download an old album because his record had broken).
One of the reasons I download some movies once in a while, I really don’t do it much, is because of limited releases.
I’m a big movie buff, and there are sooo many movies released these days that I really want to see, but, they are limited releases and only playing in New York city and LA and a few other citys. And it costs me a lot to go see a movie in New York, 8 bucks for the train just to get there, and 8 bucks for the train back, and theaters in New York are expensive too at almost 15 dollars a ticket.
And I’m one of the lucky ones too that at least has the option to go as I live this close to New York. What is someone living in Texas, or wherever, supposed to do if they really want to see a limited release? Wait 6 months for it on DVD, is the only option the movie studios give people, and they really don’t seem to care.
Now I know there are legitimate reasons a studio will make a movie a limited release, mostly them not wanting to take the risk of it not appealing to a wider audience and making any decent money, but, this is a lame argument when considering the movies they do release nationwide. Just this summer there have been soo many stupid comedys released nationwide, movies I don’t want to see anyway, and almost all of them bomb at the box office too. Point is, the movie studios seem to think the general American audience is stupid, that they will only go see stupid comedys and extreme horror movies, Hostel 2 was released nationwide and was a failure at the box office too, but, they seem to declare that general nationwide moviegoers will not go see any film that could be labeled an artistic film or one that comes from a small independent studio. Its kind of an insult to all movie buffs the decisions about our movie tastes the studios make for us.
Anyway, point is, I would happily pay money to go see these films that I want to see at my local theater, but when they release them only as limited releases, so I have to spend extra hours traveling and extra money just to see them, then screw them I’m downloading it.
So my reason for downloading movies, is the movie studios own stupidity.
I just get the feeling that this topic is going to have a lot of comments. And the debate will just go on.
Firstly Lets not talk of the RIAA/MPAA because i think most of the kids surveyed here were Europeans and those two don’t have any authority in Europe.
Also some of the reasons mentioned here seem very logical. Music is Expensive and those who do download it illegally will never even think of buying it.
I’ll give you my example. I live in India and i pay a monthly bill of about Rs 800 ( About 18$) for my net connection. I am fond of English music which is imported and the duties combined will make a Audio CD cost about Rs 550( About 12 $). I am left with basically two options. Stop listening to music or download illegally.
Downloading this stuff is becoming so casual these days that I don’t think kids think twice about it. Not only that but all of the “bad” publicity that sites like The Pirate Bay have gotten is really “good” publicity for them. More and more people are hearing about these sites and services, so it is no wonder that more users are taking advantage of them.
Well, we need no excuse in Spain.
Downloading Music and Movies is legal although the spanish RIAA counterpart, SGAE, is always trying to tell people that it’s not.
On the bad side they are pushing really hard to put a really high levy on most electronic devices (ipod, DVD players and even hard disks!)
So far there’s only a small levy on blank media and MP3 players I think.
I cannot speak for others but I can honestly claim that my movie downloads do not make much of a $$$ difference to the RIAA – going to a multiplex and watching a movie on a big screen is a completely different experience that I’m not likely to give up – when there’s a big budget flick like a Bond movie or a Die Hard 4 about to release I avoid downloading coz by watching something like that on a 17″ screen I’d only be cheating myself.
If the CD is released by any member of the RIAA, I don’t hesitate to download it. If it isn’t, I would be more than happy to buy it.