Ethics of Culture Sharing
In the Digital Economy
Culture sharing through peer to peer networks commonly known as “file sharing” has exposed me to many new artists whose works I would have otherwise remained oblivious to, while having the opposite effect in terms of my consumer behavior; I don’t purchase digital content nor replicated physical copies (CDs, DVDs). The content industry’s propaganda machine would label me a thief, yet I don’t have any moral or ethical issues with my position as:
- Artists have existed since humankind has been able to create and share culture, and earned income by the creation and/or performance of their work as well as grants in the form of patronage.
- I support artists by buying tickets to their live performances at concerts and music festivals, and visit the cinema to watch new movies.
- The Internet has created a significantly more efficient mechanism for distribution of recorded performances, which does not require physical media nor the associated shipping and logistical costs.
- In regards to paying for digital downloads, I see no value in paying for a stream of bytes which once created, has a trivial cost associated with its distribution.
If you disagree with the previous point, consider the case of software, especially games. Many people see no value in buying a piece of software or a game, but they see value in paying for the service behind that; whether it be support and future updates to the software, or the online multi-player component of many games. Digital downloads of music, movies and TV shows don’t offer anything similar and as such are just a stream of bytes which once created, have a minimal cost associated with their digital distribution.
Single player games are an interesting exception in that I and many others pay for them instead of downloading a pirated version which has had the copy protection removed. Why would one purchase these games and not movies/music/tv shows?
- Expansions or updates that add further content will work seamlessly with the authentic version.
- There is a security risk with downloading pirated software in that the modified binaries could include malicious code.
Recording a performance and selling copies manufactured en masse only emerged as a business model in the last hundred years with the invention of Vinyl, Tapes and CDS. Business models grow and wither with the advent of new technology; life is change, nothing remains constant.
