The Flip Side of Fraud

MU is celebrating Security Awareness Month with a series of workshops on identity theft, spam protection and other online security issues.

On the flip side, the recording industry is suing individuals who illegally downloaded music. Numerous stories:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96796,00.html

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/315599_music14.html

When I hear about record labels suing individuals, my first reaction is a loud laugh. C'mon. Way back in the '80s and '90s the recording industry wasn't suing individuals who "pirated" music onto blank cassette tapes. And how many teenagers can you throw in jail? For that matter, how many adults? Well, jail time is not what anybody is looking at, but fines ranging anywhere from $750 to $150,000 for each downloaded song. David Lee Roth's "Greatest Hits" no longer sounds that good.

Well, even though my first reaction is for the record companies to get a life, I hate to admit that they are right. Not because their industry (euphemism: their profits) need protection from all us pirates. If I have to adjust how I live my life because of changes in technology, I don't see why the record labels shouldn't have to roll with technology also. And not because stealing is bad or intellectual property is sacred or artists will starve even more if these protections aren't in place. No, even though all of these arguments are valid, they are not the ones that persuade me.
It's my own hypocrisy. If I want to be safe from identity theft, I suppose I have to accept that record companies deserve protection of their property, too. Can't have it for one and not others. That just isn't right.

So will I stop my hypocritical ways. Not. I'll still keep downloading (pirating) music when I can find ways. And I'll hate it if I get caught and have to pay a grand for those David Lee Roth singles I "accidentally" and embarrassingly downloaded. But I'll still have to admit that the recording industry is right.

Now, even though they are right, is there really anyway to keep the genie in the bottle? ... Let's hope not.