Published 2003-10-29T00:00:00Z”/>

Brennan Purtzer<br>Opinion Columnist

Record companies have always had one main concern: keeping their profits up. The music industry is terrified right now because they see their sales steadily decreasing, and they have chosen the most brightly painted target to point their blame – online file sharing.

On our campus, Residential Networking Coordinator Ryan Esposto, who monitors the campus residential Internet system, carries an iron stick. He’s the administrator in charge of stopping the residents who dare to trade copyrighted files on the Internet. He told The Orion last month he tries to stay out of students’ hard drives, claiming he only follows the laws as they stand. “It’s not about looking into Internet use,” Esposto said. Instead, he believes his duty to be “protecting students from themselves.” To that end, he sends warnings and fines to students who are caught with copyrighted material on their hard drives. On the other end of campus, Dr. Paul Friedlander, director of music industry program, has a decidedly different point of view.

“Free music is here to stay,” says Friedlander. “There are 200 million people file sharing. Are they really intent on litigating against all these people? No.”

The record company’s strategy has shifted from issuing subpoenas to issuing warnings that tell users to basically “delete their files – or else,” said Yahoo! News last month. But they shouldn’t have to. File sharing shouldn’t even be illegal. It isn’t even hurting the music moguls. Industry experts like Dr. Friedlander say there is no causal relationship between file sharing and the reduction in CD sales.

According to Salon.com, a University of Texas study had difficulty finding solid proof that file sharing was hurting CD sales. File sharing actually promotes consumption. A common claim supporting file sharing is that free music, such as radio, is actually a huge promoter of music sales. In truth, no one buys music they haven’t heard before; exposure is the key to sales. Internet file sharing is free promotion, so companies have no right to complain.

The music industry has also turned its focus from developing good artists in favor of one-hit wonders. The future of the artist is not a priority. The industry is only concerned with selling one album at a time.

Often times because of the poor contracts given to these briefly famous artists, they float across the spotlight and have exited the scene before they have made any substantial money in the business. If major labels embraced file sharing, it could give free exposure to new artists, who would then sell millions of follow-up releases once the band is established.

This line of thinking is completely lost on record companies. They refuse to use the developing Internet marketplace to their advantage. People forget that in the business of music, consumers are the largest interest group. Yet they are without a congressional lobby. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which makes it a crime to circumvent anti-piracy software, was passed because the government sought its expert advice from recording industry professionals who had their own interests at heart rather than those who buy their product.

In light of that, should students feel morally wrong about taking song files from other users on the Web? Not according to Friedlander.

He said there is a morality issue here, but it isn’t centered on student downloads. He said the issue is “the point to which the record companies take advantage of the artist – giving them a pittance, and reaping windfall profits.”

We need to keep this in mind as we go into battle with these scoundrels. As students and as citizens, this is a fight from which we should not back down. On the contrary, we should take an offensive stance: Download like crazy.

We should also boycott music purchases until it’s cheaper for us and artists can get a bigger cut. In the meantime, the record companies need to bend a little bit. Their inflexibility could hurt them in the end, because file sharing isn’t going anywhere.

“They’re trying to hold back those trends as long as possible, while they re-arrange the deck-chairs on the titanic to maintain as much control as they can,” said Friedlander.

We need to remember that just because something is against the law doesn’t mean that you’re in the wrong. Do what you love: enjoy music and pirate what you want.

Brennan Purtzer can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>