“I heard it’s possible to download music from the internet for free,” an acquaintance of mine said. I’ll call him Ivan.I glanced up at Ivan with a concerned look. “Yes, it is possible. But it’s not very legal,” I answered.

“Someone at work told me all I had to do was install this [oddly named program], do a search for bands I like, and download them. He said he hasn’t bought a single album in years.”

It’s true. Ivan’s co-worker was right. As long as you have a computer and an internet connection, you can download music files, or MP3s, from virtually any composer, band, or artist just by performing a simple search in one of the many available peer to peer, or P2P, file sharing programs available. You can essentially create that music library you’ve always wanted, but for free. However, as easy as it may be, there are a lot of points you should consider before jumping on the file sharing bandwagon to beef up your MP3 collection.

In 1999, the now infamous Napster was created and released to a salivating public. Napster was then a very popular P2P file sharing program. It allowed users from across the globe to browse, download, and swap computer files from each other’s hard drives. What Napster would inevitably give birth to was an online culture who shared entire music files online. Word spread like a wildfire. Hundreds of thousands of MP3s were being downloaded from one person’s computer straight to hundreds of others. Analysts were saying the music industry would never be the same again. They were right.

Napster hit a speed bump in 2001 when the recording industry took the situation to court. Napster had given people around the world the means to illegally acquire copyrighted material without spending a dime. Shortly afterward, Napster closed its service. The age of free music seemed to be at an end, but the battle between the recording industry and music swappers didn’t end there.

With Napster dead and buried, other P2P programmers began popping up. Allowing the same functionality as Napster, these programs continued to allow users to fight back against copyright laws. Seeing no end to the struggle, the recording industry began to take even more drastic measures; they went after the law breakers themselves. Reports of P2P file sharing individuals being sued and even jailed began pouring into the media. The P2P programs themselves secretly provided logs of download data to the courts, which allowed users to be singled out. People’s lives were destroyed for sharing and downloading copyrighted material. Even today, the recording industry still tries to stay one step ahead of file swappers by appealing to the courts for new laws, while music is still being swapped in amazing quantities.

So to Ivan I stated, “You could get into a lot of trouble if you use a program like that. The program itself is not illegal, but the act of downloading music you would otherwise have to pay for is a crime.”

What are the chances that Ivan or anyone else would be singled out by those trying to protect copyrighted material? If the P2P programs and the actions that the recording industry are taking stay as they are, the answer is Ivan could probably download music for years without fear of legal action. There is, however, still that minuscule chance his name could be pulled from a long list of names and Ivan could become an example for the world to see just how serious the recording industry is.

My Opinion:
Peer to peer file sharing is not illegal. It is a useful way to find user created content or non-copyrighted material that would otherwise be lost. The act of downloading music, movies, or software that should be purchased in a store is illegal. What you should also consider is that the majority of the P2P file sharing programs available today have malicious software bundled inside. This software can turn your computer into a junked up paper weight over a short period of time, making it unusable for anything other than staring at a blue screen. Which I don’t find very appealing.

I do not condone stealing music. What I do suggest is finding a legitimate music downloading service which suits your needs. Some programs like iTunes allow you to pay per song or per album. They are usually cheaper than purchasing the same content at a mall. Once you purchase content in this way, it is yours to listen to or use as you please. Other programs like eMusic.com, Rhapsody, Zune, Urge, and the newly reborn Napster require a monthly subscription to use the service. Once you sign up and pay your subscription, you can start downloading an unlimited number of songs, but if you ever choose to cancel the service, all songs downloaded will be locked and you will not be able to listen to them again.

I recommend using a pay per song download service. The copyright terms are usually very easy to deal with and once you have purchased the music, it’s yours forever. Subscription services don’t offer much versatility in the way you can use your downloaded music and often have too many stipulations that I, personally, don’t want to be bothered with.