Molly Tumanic

Ahoy, mateys, sea dogs and wenches.

Pirates, once thought to be a lost culture, are re-emerging – not on ships with swords, but on computers with burners.

Upon the high seas of the Internet, cyber pirates are stealing and pillaging in search of movies and musical booty. They are starting to ruffle the feathers of some pretty powerful people.

On Thursday, Feb. 19, the FBI gave Hollywood film studios, music companies and software makers permission to use its name and logo on their products, hoping to deter people from making illegal copies.

It’s kind of like the warning you have seen on video tapes for years; the new label promises up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

I know what you are thinking – this is just more of the Man’s bilge, but I assure you, it’s not. Cyber crime is third priority on the FBI’s list, behind terrorism and counter-intelligence. In my mind, that is no joke.

I mean, downloading music has kind of gotten out of hand. I searched for “downloading music and movies” using Google and got 1,240,000 possibilities. People took a good idea and went too far with it.

If you think these are just empty threats, look at stories like that of Kerry Gonzalez, who was dealt a penance of six months house arrest, three years probation and a $7,000 fine for putting a version of The Hulk online two weeks before the movie was released. He now is getting the proverbial cat o’nine tails.

And if you think this will be the last judgment of its kind, you have been drinking too much grog.

I am split on this issue. I see both sides of the argument, but where does my allegiance lie?

I know file sharing is a great way to spread music and it sucks to buy an $18 CD when all you want is one song, but does that justify it?

I am just as poor as the next college student and enjoy free things. In these fiscally challenging times, it’s hard to shell out money for something you could just download.

I do have burned CDs, but only by established artists.

If artists encourage you to burn their material, by all means, raise the anchor and hoist the sail, but use some tact before you burn whatever you want.

I look down on people who burn music of artists who are just trying to make it. If these artists do not sell a lot of records, they don’t get contracts.

If you are one of those people who say you burn because you are a fan, that is cool – but how long will the artists be around if you continue to steal their music? Once again, if they don’t sell records, their label wonders why it invests so much money into them.

You also may say you burn because you don’t want to give money to the corporate machine. I do not want to give my money to it either, but the artist and regular people striving to sell suffer more than the corporation, and they are who I care about.

Have morals and virtue been lost in the American fiber? Stealing is stealing in my book, regardless if it’s done under the faceless guise of the World Wide Web. It is not a victimless crime.

I respect art and would not want mine to be stolen. Think of it from a different perspective: All that hard work and nothing to show for it. What a travesty.

Try other alternatives; Macintosh and the new Napster have come up with places where you can obtain the songs you want for $1 or less.

I am what you call a music junky, but I would never let that push me to take from another. I do not want that on my conscience. Do you?

Don’t just recklessly take. Take off the blinders and see all angles. If you were an artist, how would you feel about someone taking your work without your permission?

Piracy is widely accepted and I do not know why. Is it because you can’t see who you are affecting, or is it just selfishness? Whatever it is, it really shivers my timbers.