Pirate = Piracy = Stealing!!

Major record corporations may perhaps come up with an answer to the mounting threat of piracy and unlawful file distribution.

In this post, I would like to share more regarding the Nokia mobile phone. Nokia, the world's leading mobile phone-maker, has launched a Comes with Music brand mobile phone which enables users who have purchased the phone to download music from Sony BMG, EMI, Universal Music and Warner Music to the handset or a personal computer (Sabbagh 2008).

Is there a trap?

(Source: toonpool.com)

In a good way, there is no catch as long as you pay for the mobile phone, which comprises this revolutionary service. Singapore was said to be the earliest country in Asia with Nokia's Comes with Music, and the Finnish company's flagship N97 model that was launched retails for S$1,228 with the service (Nokia 2009).

"You'll be able to download any song you want on to the handset or one personal computer for the first 12 months, and keep all of them forever," said Jo Harlow, a vice-president of Nokia.

This progress comes hot on the heels of research data from Nielsen Soundscan, which explains that albums vending in America plunge for the seventh time in eight years (CNN Money 2009). As the CD format's profit-making function to the recording industry has been on the wane since the twist of the century when downloading and file-sharing came out on the internet, the ailing recording production has revolutionized to a new form of selling music - digital music retailing, bearing out that form follows function (Bear 2009).

Why do people still do it?

Are you one of them?

(Source: eyetap.org)

Copyright infringement and illegal downloading is nothing new, but why do people still do it? Some people would say that music labels are overcharging for CDs, so downloading and file sharing are ways to claim justice. Robin Hood was and always will be considered a hero, but does that make stealing right?

Would you want people who disapprove of your corporation to steal from you?

Take this into consideration; downloading illegally is not different from walking out from a Tower Records store without paying for a Beetles record.

(Source: jintel.wordpress.com)

So, would YOU ALL STOP STEALING?

References

Bear, J.H 2009, ‘Form and function in document design’, About.com, viewed 14 June 2010,[http://desktoppub.about.com/od/graphicdesign/a/formfunction.htm]

Sabbagh, D 2008, Nokia offers unlimited music for one-off fee, Australian IT, viewed 14 June 2010,[http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24440421-15306,00.html]

CNN Money.com 2009, Sour note: Music sales down in 2008, viewed 14 June 2010,[http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/01/news/companies/music.reut/index.htm]