Downloading Music Legally

What would you rather pay– 99 cents or 150,000 dollars. Ninety nine cents is the typical cost of a song on iTunes. 150,000 dollars is what you pay when you download music for free, but then get caught.

On September, 2003 a young 12 year old girl was caught swapping files for music. She believed she would not get caught. Guess what happened. And remember, she’s only one of the myriad who did get caught.

Now you’re asking, how did these people get caught? The RIAA was able to sue Verizon. Therefore, Verizon had to release the name of subscribers who were suspected of copyright infrigment.

So how do you not get caught? There are ways, but I highly recommend you do not download music. It’s bad and harsh. I’m not saying you’re going to hurt the artists (they already have enough money. If you don’t buy their CD, they will probably not afford their second diamond plated swimming pool), but you’re just going to hurt yourself.

Be like many others and stop downloading music. After 2003, 61% of college students stopped downloading music. 58% of parents with children at home stopped downloading music. 58% of women stopped downloading music. From 35 million people to 18 million people. Many are downloading music less.

 Although some lawsuits have been small, you’re not going to know how much the RIAA will sue you for.