File-sharing has reshaped cultural horizons

In this, the Daily's final installment on the issue of file-sharing, we weigh the advantages and disadvantages of various legal alternatives and discuss the effects of file-sharing on American community and culture.

Through increased vigilance, the recording industry has achieved its goal of reducing illegal file-sharing; however, it cannot reverse the impact file sharing has had on music and youth culture.

Students have been among the first to complain about the RIAA's recent crackdowns on file-sharing, seeing it as a monolithic industry against the individual consumer.

"It seems stupid for the RIAA not to embrace these new technologies and take advantage of things like IMusic [Apple's pay-per-download music service] and to bully instead," senior and musician Nico Juber said.

"It's a little ridiculous for the RIAA to start slapping students with subpoenas," Juber added. "Are these the people they want to be getting in trouble? If people we know are getting sued for thousands of dollars, it's not exactly going to make us want to go out and buy CDs!"

Though Juber admits that the RIAA is getting its anti-piracy message across -- "I'm scared out of my mind to download anything," she said -- she feels that a less combative strategy would have been more effective. Instead of promoting legal, convenient, and affordable alternatives to programs like Kazaa, the RIAA, she says, "is just sort of bullying."

Even though they may not be heavily promoted, there are some new legal versions of file-sharing associate professor of Sociology Henry Rubin points out.

"New forms of file-sharing like [IMusic], Apple's newest contribution, are a good compromise between the file-sharing public and the music/movie industry," he said.

Rubin predicts, however, that "[paid file-sharing servers] won't be very successful in a market where free file-sharing is still possible and the norm." He added that "students will, or already do, see the immense potential of file-sharing and other web technologies, much more readily than their elders. They take for granted the availability of the software and the files."

The college demographic, therefore, may already be too "advanced" in their expectations to view record companies' legal digital music offerings -- such as BuyMusic and Streamwaves -- as pioneering, or even worthwhile.

Many students, however, have given legal music services a chance. "I'm a Mac user, and IMusic is amazing," Juber said.

Juber did not always rely on IMusic, however: "We were pretty young when [file-sharing] first came out, and it really didn't seem like there was anything illegal about it," she said. "I didn't think of it as 'stealing music'... it honestly hadn't occurred to me that it was something they could come and take me away for."

Once Juber realized that downloading copyrighted music files was, technically, stealing, she began using legal alternatives. Now, Juber says she would only download a song from Kazaa if she could not find it otherwise.

The demise of free file-sharing programs affects more than just listeners' wallets: free file-sharing programs have created a sense of community and solidarity among downloaders. This sense of community was brought into sharp relief when the RIAA recently sued 19 year old Jesse Jordan for several million dollars.

Jordan, a college freshman who had developed and run a Napster-style network from his computer, settled with the RIAA in court for $12,000. After hearing about Jordan's situation, however, numerous strangers began to donate money on Jordan's behalf through an online PayPal account.

As reported in Rolling Stone, those contributions amounted to enough to cover the legal expenses incurred upon Jordan by the RIAA's lawsuit. The file-sharing community's cohesive support of Jordan illustrates the strength of the interpersonal bonds formed as a result of file-sharing networks.

The implications of the development of file-sharing communities, then, extend beyond the entertainment realm: "Communities formed around art can lead to other forms of community which are so necessary for maintaining a democratic society," Rubin said. "This is something that we truly do not have in our alienated lives be they urban or rural or otherwise."

"In my opinion, the file-sharing movement is a perfect example of the way that new media are providing opportunities for creativity and community," Rubin said, adding that "many file-sharing programs have chat rooms or the equivalent which allow people to form communities around music, movies and related topics."

File-sharing has also facilitated and regenerated community interest in live music, providing fans with a forum to interact based on shared concert sounds and experiences.

"A lot of live music has been dying out -- the music scene is boring right now," graduate student and musician Kate McDonnell said. "[File-sharing] can provide incentive for people to come to concerts. The more that I think about it, it's a good thing... At the end of the day, because of the internet [and file sharing], more people are actually coming out to watch concerts."

The interest generated in the live music scene is evidence that file-sharing has the potential to fan rather than dim listeners' fervor. Whether the record industry can channel that fervor into profit through paid file-sharing servers remains to be seen.

"[Students] understand that the industry wants to maintain control over the distribution of music/movies," Rubin said. "But they see [file-sharing] for what it is: an unstoppable trend with revolutionary potential for changing the horizons within which we produce and consume art."