[quote name='mykevermin']If you don't think of it as stealing, what do you think of it as?[/QUOTE]
What it is, copyright infringement...but that doesn't get the kneejerk negative reaction out of Joe Q Dipshit. That's why I brought up anti-abortion people trying to get people on their side by saying they are pro-life and using loaded terms like murder.
Is it wrong? In most situations, yes.
Is it the same thing as stealing? No.
What do you think of when you think of stealing? Somebody taking something from another person. Why is it bad? Because it causes them a loss and deprives them of their item. If I steal your car, you can no longer drive. If I steal your iPod, you can no longer listen to music on the go. If I steal your food, you won't be able to eat. In all these cases, I would cause you a loss since not only would you be missing the thing you bought but you would have to replace whatever I took.
Now, let's think about downloading. If I download the new Neil Young album in FLAC, the store isn't out of a copy, I didn't take money out of Neil Young's wallet but I have a exact copy of what they are selling. It's wrong but it isn't a slam dunk like stealing a physical item. You can view it as a lost sale but that's on the thought process that A) I have the money to buy it to begin with and B) I would have bought it if a free source wasn't around. That I'm not just downloading the album out of a compulsive or curious urge. It's alot easier to take chances when the fee is free instead of $11.88 a pop.
Now, does that mean I think that all art is worthless and should be downloaded? No. I am a strong believer that you should go out of your way to support what you love if you have the money (and if you don't have the money, spread the word and help that way or see them when they play live or buy some merchandise). I hate the people who download
everything when they have the money and act like it's no big deal (or even worse, gloat about it)
[watch out, it's about to get a little crazy]
I do my best to support the artists I love but my resources aren't infinite. I give as much as I can.
Recent example. Alessandro Cortini. He's the former keyboardist from Nine Inch Nails. He creates amazing music as modwheelmood/blindoldfreak/SONOIO. Even though I could have downloaded everything, I bought everything instead. I want to see him succeed. I want to reward him for his work and the feeling feels (at least for me) mutual. He wants to give me a better experience for supporting him (bonus demos, signed/numbered stuff, more bang for my buck). A few months ago, I splurged and spent $66.85 on his latest project SONOIO. For that I received a signed and numbered CD/signed poster/exclusive preorder demos and awesome t-shirt.
Now around that time, I'm not going to lie, I downloaded alot of albums. If I would have only bought the $7.99 SONOIO digital download, would I have spread that other $58.86 around and bought some of those albums? No. Because I was spending money I really shouldn't have. I was going out of my way to give him even more money. If every other free route closed and it was either buy those albums I downloaded illegally or don't listen to them...I would have chosen don't listen to them.
It may sound like bullshit to some people but that's the way it is with me.
I think the thing the industry has to keep in mind is that these "pirates", at the end of the day, are mostly fans. And while it's easy for them to go, "Sporadic, you didn't buy the majority of those Nine Inch Nails albums/bootlegs you have on your computer. Give us $30,000 per song YOU STOLEN FROM US", it becomes a little more murky when you realize that I've spent $400+ on tickets since 2005 along with a t-shirt/posters at each of the four Nine Inch Nails shows I attended. Was it a dick move to download the songs? I guess. But did it lead to me putting most of my expendable income in the pockets of artists I love? Most of the time, yes.
I also have to say, I don't get the backlash to downloading considering there are perfectly legal options like getting something from the library or buying a used copy or paying a small monthly fee for unlimited access to something (Netflix) where the artist gets little to no compensation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyX81N02V0E