Sarah Yoo, Argumentive essay, Tues56

Downloading copyrighted materials on the internet is tempting especially when the internet provides access to free materials. Almost everyone is guilty for this petty crime, if it can be considered as a crime at all. Although the law states that it is illegal to download copyrighted material on the internet, it should be legalized because it is not a crime. A crime is an act that is wrong, but downloading copyright materials is not wrong when materials are not being protected by its owners and its costs overvalue online materials.

There is a countless number of websites and sources where music and movies can be downloaded for free with a click of a finger. When copyright materials can be downloaded for free, why should anyone go through the extra payment steps to pay for them? If someone was given the choice to pay for a good or receive it for free, a smart choice would be to get the product for free. It is undeniably innate in consumers to seek for the best valued product at the lowest price. Therefore, the blame cannot be put on consumers for downloading copyright materials for free, but on the owners of the property. The responsibility lies on the owners of the copyrighted material to protect their material and prevent it from being leaked into society without a price tag. Hence, downloading copyright materials should be legalized as consumers should not be obliged to protect the property of others.

In addition, consumers should not have to pay for materials online when they already paid for the computer or device. Devices are worth the value of the cost because they are last longing and can be utilized for various reasons. On the other hand, online materials such as movies, will only be watched once or maybe twice which is why its costs are unworthy. Having to pay for all copyrighted materials seems like another way for industries to bleed the money out of consumers. Therefore, people should be given the right to have access to free copyrighted material.

Everyone is guilty of downloading copyright materials whether it was intentional or not. In our society where downloading copyright materials is considered normal, it is unfair to punish those unfortunate ones who are caught out of bad luck, while the rest of the public roam free from the crime. Without a doubt, the punishment of this crime which includes heavy fines and the possibility of imprisonment is crude for such a petty crime. For those who are unlucky, they receive outrageous charges to act as a precedent that is not even an effective means of protecting intellectual property. Putting the blame on the few and giving harsh punishments to deter others from downloading copyright materials which is not so much of a crime is not right. They should be freed and the law should be legalized.

Industries argue that they are not making enough money and it is part of their intellectual property which is why copyright materials need protection. However, I believe that this is not the case. Industries make enough money and only want to sweep in more money to reach ultimate goal of making as much profit as possible. If they don't want people to download their copyrighted material against their will, they should protect it themselves through their own measures instead of blaming consumers for doing what is definite.

In conclusion, copyrighted materials are provided all over the internet and it is the right of the consumer to download whatever they have access to without being bound to the law. The responsibility lies within the owners of the intellectual property to safeguard their property.