FREE ESSAY ON TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING THE WAY WE LISTEN TO MUSIC

TECHNOLOGY IS CHANGING THE WAY WE LISTEN TO MUSIC

Jason Nikouyeh 
Professor Willis
English 111, Section 133
4 November 1999
Technology is Changing 
the Way We Listen to Music
Downloading MP3s from the Internet should be made legal. An MP3 is a near CD quality
digital recording of a musical piece that is compressed so it can be distributed through
the Internet (Simple Net). High prices, new technology, and availability are causing most
music lovers to turn to the Internet to listen to their music. It's convenient to search
a computer database for a song you've been wanting to hear by your favorite artist,
download it, and copy it on to a CD. More and more people are doing this because with the
help of search engines it's possible to find any song imaginable and download it for
free. What most people don't realize is that the reproduction of a musical work,
distribution of copies of a musical piece, and the public performance of the work without
the copyright owner's consent are all violations of copyright laws (Anderman and Paez 5).
However, they do know that getting caught for this crime is very unlikely. Catching those
who violate copyright laws is very tricky because in most cases it's hard to tell who is
at fault. Because of very detailed, complicated copyright laws even prosecuting a web
site for promoting pirated music is almost too difficult to attempt. 
New digital audio compression technologies have made promoting, distributing, and selling
music very easy (5). Sound files called MPEG 1 Layer 3 or MP3 for short allow users to
download digital quality music for free over the Internet. These compressed audio files
can be played on an individual's computer by using special software. With the help of
CD-writers, a relatively new computer technology that allows people to create there own
CDs, illegal copies of the copyrighted material can be made at near compact disc quality
(Anderman and Paez 6). Portable MP3 players have now been developed that make pirating
songs even easier. Instead of having to search for and buy expensive music, people are
simply downloading the songs they want and designing their own CDs or just listening to
the music on an MP3 player. In any case these new technologies are concerning the music
industry because composers and production companies are losing a tremendous amount of
money (MacDonald 1).
The increasing popularity of MP3s has resulted in the need for copyright law reforms.
Because MP3s violate copyright laws, service providers have to take extreme precautions
to avoid liability for copyright infringement (Anderman and Paez 7). The first of many
says that service providers are not liable if the provider doesn't start the transmission
of the audio file nor manually carry out the copying process (8). The provider can not
select the recipients, nor can the transmissions make any changes to the online material
(8). The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, otherwise known as DMCA, addresses many issues
associated with copyright infringement and rules for digital audio transmission over the
Internet. It deals with many issues that include anti-piracy provisions, liability for
online copyright infringement, and requirements for digital music delivery (1). These
reforms, designed to protect the Internet Service Providers from liability, make catching
individuals who break copyright laws very hard. It's difficult for providers of
interactive web sites and networks to search through all of their hosted web sites for
pirated materials so in order for them to be shielded from liability, they can't have
anyway of knowing about the pirated material stored on their server. If the provider is
notified of the infringing material, they have to stop accessing to the particular web
site immediately. There are many specific rules that the providers must follow in order
to avoid blame for copyright infringement if one of their web pages is hosting pirated
materials (Anderman and Paez 8).
Deciding whether or not copyright laws were violated intentionally is too difficult
because there are two types of copyright infringement, direct and indirect (7). If
someone makes a digital copy of a musical work such as a MP3 and makes it available for
downloading on the Internet, they have directly violated copyright laws. Direct copyright
infringement occurs when a person knowingly makes illegal copies of copyrighted material
and distributes it to the public without getting permission from the copyright owner (7).
It doesn't matter whether they're getting financial gains out of it or not. In other
words, an individual doesn't have to be selling CDs with MP3s on them to violate
copyright laws. However, if someone is willfully infringing copyright laws for financial
benefits, they can be sentenced to five years imprisonment and $250,000 in fines (Simple
Net). Simply downloading a song without the author's permission to the hard drive of your
computer violates copyright laws, and if convicted of this the penalty of $100,000 per
infringed sound recording can be imposed (Simple Net). An Internet Service Provider can
be held liable for pirated materials if a web page they are hosting contains pirated
materials. However, if the provider unknowingly hosts a web page that has MP3s on it they
are indirectly violating copyright laws, but they can still be held liable for up to
$20,000 for each infringed sound recording (Simple Net). Something had to be done to
protect them from being persecuted for an offense they committed unintentionally. 
Under the DMCA a service provider is required to provide designated information about
them so they can be notified of pirated materials, such as MP3s, on their web sites
(Anderman and Paez 7). They must also develop a policy that allows them to punish or get
rid of all account holders who infringe the material (10). An Internet Service Provider
or ISP does not have the right to alter any measures taken by the copyright owner to
protect their work. If the copyright owner asks a service provider for the name of a
copyright law offender, the ISP has to disclose the information to them (10). However,
the issuing of a subpoena for this information is a long, rigorous process, and now the
problem is deciding whether or not the violator of copyright laws should be prosecuted
for committing the crime or not. Safe harbors from liability, specified in the Digital
Millenium Copyright Act, were enacted to protect against indirect copyright infringement
(7). 
There is virtually no way to enforce copyright laws on MP3s because it's so easy to
indirectly violate them. When considering what the Internet is, a vast collection of
information interconnected for the public, the need for safe harbors becomes apparent.
However, it's these same safe harbors that provide ways to escape liability when an
individual does violate copyright laws. Web pages are connected through hyperlinks and
search engines so even though a web site might not contain MP3s, it can be linked to
other web pages that do (9). This makes it difficult to zero in on the web site that is
violating copyright laws. The problem becomes evident when considering the two types of
links, the in-line link and the out link (10). The out link doesn't provide much
information for the destination site and is the most common type of link used on the
Internet (10). It simply allows the user to push a button and go to another site.
However, an in-line link actually pulls information from another web site into the
current page (Anderman and Paez10). In other words, MP3s could be available through a web
page that doesn't actually host the pirated materials. The problem of linking to pirated
material is the easiest way to face liability for infringing materials. For that reason
service providers can escape liability by removing themselves from the guidelines set by
the safe harbors through in-line links (10). These loopholes make it almost impossible to
catch someone who is involved in the copying and distribution of MP3s. Musicians are
recognizing that they are losing a lot of money, so they are trying to find some way to
put a stop to it and still make money in the process (6).
MP3s eliminate the ownership of a musical piece. This new method for listening to music
is threatening the music industry by encouraging copyright infringement of musical works
(6). Since MP3s are downloadable for free, no one is going to buy music. Because of this
the copyright owner isn't going to make any money with record labels. Record labels are
scared that eventually these new technologies are going to put them out of business. A
recent lawsuit by the Recording Industry Association of America or the RIAA against
Diamond Multimedia Systems, Inc. due to copyright infringement was over royalties (6).
The RIAA thought they should get a cut of the profits made by Diamond Multimedia Systems
because they were facilitating piracy. Record labels will soon be a thing of the past
because most musicians will be on an independent label and eventually sell their music
via the Internet (MacDonald 1). Web sites will start paying musicians for the right to
host their musical works online and allow members, who have paid a fee to join the
service, to download the material in MP3 format (2). The Secure Digital Music Initiative
or SDMI is an example of businesses already beginning to exploit the digital music market
(2). mp3.com is an alternative to retail distribution that has the Big Five record labels
shaking in their boots(MacDonald1). According to Michael Robertson, CEO of the web-site,
mp3.com has captured the digital-music revolution. It's changing the way people listen to
music(qt. in MacDonald 1). BMG Entertainment is also launching a new web site called
GetMusic.com that will sell music online (Anderman and Paez 6). Under SDMI, the
distribution of music in digital format won't violate copyright laws. This new process,
SDMI, was planned by the RIAA, which means that it is a last resolve to take control of
the music market back and still make money (6).
MP3s are available on the Internet for free, and because of this there is no way for a
musician to make any money. Right now MP3s violate copyright laws because the majority of
them are duplicated without the author's consent. However, there is a way to distribute
MP3s on the Internet and still allow the artist's to make money. Because a musical
recording is licensed, a fee would have to be paid to the copyright owner for the right
to distribute their music online (8). However, the fee paid would only be good for a
certain allotted number of transmissions, and monitoring and controlling how many times a
MP3 has been downloaded is not easy. There are ways to get around the methods that MP3
distributors are using now to record how many times a file has been downloaded to another
computer. System caching is the method in which web sites are stored on a computer (8).
Because of this an individual could listen to the same MP3 multiple times off of one
download. This makes it very difficult for the copyright owner to make money from their
music because they can easily be cheated out of their share of royalties. An online MP3
distributor can pay the copyright owner to make their musical piece available for a
specific number of transmissions and go way beyond that allotted number of downloads
without the author even knowing (Anderman and Paez 8). To avoid this regulations were
placed on Internet Service Providers that require them to refresh the system cache so
often to prevent the MP3 from being available too long (8). 
Both recording artists and the record industry need to realize that we are approaching a
new era of technology in which the Internet will play a key role in everyone's daily
activities. Everything from services to material objects is becoming readily available at
the click of a mouse button via the Internet. Waiting for a musical artist's new CD to be
released only to pay an outrageous price for it is a thing of the past (MacDonald 1). The
need for a record label is slowly deteriorating. Eventually every musician will have
their own independent label and therefore have their music readily available through the
Internet, so mp3s should not violate copyright laws. The sooner record companies stop
resisting the era that precedes us, the better for the music lovers all over the world
that want every kind of music available at their fingertips without ever leaving their
home.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Anderman, Jason M. and Mauricio F. Paez. Down & Dirty With DMCA. Online. Internet. .
MacDonald, Patrick. Music Industry Hearing a Whole New Song. Seattle Times. 4 Oct. 1999.
Online. 13 Oct. 1999.
Simple Net. Home Page. 13 Oct. 1999 .