*sends up the Jolly Roger*put on an eyepatch*
I'll admit to it. I am no innocent to computer piracy. No angel am I. A devil? Perhaps not quite. Maybe just a mere imp. (;
Now, when I first started - collecting - those songs and whatnot that I loved but could not afford to purchase on CD, I really did not think about the fact that it might be illegal. It was cool. I got music and I could hear it on my computer. That was pretty much all I needed.
I was an IRC downloader. I got most of my music from people on IRC. I never actually had an account on Napster. I knew people who did - but not me. I mean, I had friends on IRC that would find all the music I could want, so I didn't see a need to download Napster and go after it myself. Why create more work for my poor, college self?
What was I looking for? Still want? The songs I hear on the radio. I don't listen to the radio a lot - only while in my car. Since I live only 20 minutes from work and I get up at the butt-crack of dawn, there isn't much music going on. But what I do hear, I'd love to own. And it was the same in college. What I did hear, I wanted to have to listen to at my leisure. You know, get the whole song without missing the first minute, or having the beginning and/or end talked over by the DJ (RP) or the station identification. I generally only hunt down what I want, but I still have friends who download all sorts of things and they send me things they think I might like. So, I suppose I get new things that way.
I'm not sure how I stay off the RIAA's scope. Perhaps since I have pretty much stopped downloading music files, I'm just not on the radar. And then again, perhaps they are setting me up for a horribly humilating takedown. I can see it now. I'm at work and the cops burst in and handcuff me, scaring the crap out of all of my little high school students. I'd be the talk of the school for years. "Did you hear about that math teacher? They arrested her right in the middle of 2nd period! I was there! OMG! WTF!" (Yes, I have actually heard my students say o-m-g and w-t-f. That was not abbreviated due to this being online or to get around Owen's filters. They really talk like that.) It actually sounds really funny right now - but I can imagine it'd be seriously embarrassing. I'd have to move.
I honestly have to say that I have bought albums based off the music I have downloaded. So - I'm a bit on the fence about the 'illegality' of file sharing. Yes, swapping copyrighted music is not exactly right, but - how many people have bought an album because they heard one song on the radio and liked it?  I think file sharing was GREAT for those bands who were NOT played on the radio. More and more people would hear the music and think, "Hey! That's cool. I want it." And then go buy the album.Â
But that's just my two cents. Sue me if you must. XDÂ
