Downloading: Harmless or Criminal?

I thought for my first topic I could start with something that everyone seems to have an opinion about, Downloading.

Big Money would have us believe that downloading is the newest way the dredge of society has found to sneak a hand into their pocket and take a piece of their action. Crippling them and forcing sales to drop exponentially. If a product is good and worth purchasing, there is no way to stop hordes of people from going out to buy one of their very own.

I often think about growing up in the 80's, turning on the radio and queuing up the tape deck to make myself a mix tape of all my favorite songs. I learned to do this from my Father whom himself had a huge setup in his "music room" to copy from Vinyl to Tape all his favorite music. This is the same guy whom also taught me how to bypass the "security measures" that VHS tapes later implemented in order to keep people from renting a movie and making a copy for themselves. Even if Big Money would like to exacerbate the idea that making a copy for yourself or your friend is stealing, I do not see the difference between making a copy or having some friends over for a movie night. I have heard the argument that no one is paying for the product that is being shared, but someone had to pay for the original copy that has been uploaded for others to download. Even the crappy video camera bootlegs that are readily available the same day a movie comes out is a copy of an experience some paid an exorbitant amount for, those handheld warriors whom pay the ridiculous prices we all dread to see a movie on the big screen. Not to mention that often people who download a copy of the product already own an official copy or soon buy one after and only wish to protect their investment from being damaged and lost. The biggest reason I have heard from others whom download is that they had a copy of a movie or something and it got ruined by negligence of a third party. How is it fair to require someone to constantly purchase copies of the same materials in order to keep Big Money in Big Money?

All the people I know whom have ever downloaded a movie, show, book or song have done it not to steal money from the pockets of the more fortunate, but to enjoy the product. These are the first people in line, dressed to the nines in their cosplay outfits when their favorite movie, comic or any hobby related item comes out. The people who stand in line for hours to enter the Convention and spend exorbitant amounts of money supporting their favorite form of escapism. These are the people Big Money would have society fine or worse imprison.

Often what is downloaded is something you might not be sure you want to pay for right away, something you heard about and could watch or listen to with a friend but would prefer to do it in the privacy of your own home without taking the risk of damaging your friends copy. I hate it when you hear great things about something and then purchase the product thinking you will enjoy it only to find, it is just not your cup of tea.

There are some people out there who download to turn a profit, to me that is Piracy. Taking the intellectual property of another and selling it to make a profit for yourself. This is where I draw the line. Where is your line? What are your thoughts?

~Hugh