The Ethics of Illegal Downloads

The Issue
In 1998, the P2P (person to person) mp3 file-sharing application Napster became increasingly popular with online users.  This file-sharing system allowed thousands of users to access and obtain digital copies of music free of cost.  As a result of Napster's mass appeal, compact disc sales noticeably decreased.  The Record Industry Association of America sued Napster and founder Shawn Fanning for copyright infringement and won.   Following the case, congress assessed the new copyright problems that were arising from the widespread use of the internet   In 1998, Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act which "made it a crime to break through any technology intended to secure digital copies of software, literary works, videos, and music." The Digital Millennium Copyright Act was the first attempt to secure legal, intellectual property rights for works available online. An individual may use a work for noncommercial use, as long as the use thereof does not interfere with the copyright holder.  In the course of its existence, Napster threatened the fiscal profits of the RIAA, which affects not only the artists, but producers, writers, record labels, distributors, etc of the copyrighted material.

The Ethics
Morals are defined as "an individual's code of behavior based on religious or philosophical principles, and define what is right and what is wrong."  Whereas ethics is the rational assessment of one's "competing moral principles." The process of ethical evaluation helps the individual determine which course of action is right, and which is wrong, when there is no clearly defined code of conduct.

John Stuart Mill, a 19th c. philosopher, advocated his theories of utilitarianism, which proposed the maxim with which to conduct oneself in ethical analysis as "the greatest good for the greatest number."  According to Mill, the greatest virtue is that which "provides the greatest happiness for the greatest number," regardless of an individual's personal gain or happiness.

As it pertains to the act of illegally downloading music, an individual who would engage in such behavior would be in violation of Mill's principle of utility.  Such an act would only benefit the individual who is illegally obtaining the file, while the act itself would be harming a greater number of people, including the artists, writers, recording company, etc.  The chain of people affected by the commerce of the media industry indicates that this socio-economic system benefits a number of people when properly adhered.  Therefore, if an individual goes against the greatest good, i.e. adhering to the economic system of purchasing goods through legal venues, than the individual is engaged in a wrong course of action.  In this situation, the individual who is evaluating his or her ethical principles may think, "it is immoral to steal, regardless of from whom", but simultaneously think, "it is moral to promote my personal musical exposure, which will help me grow as an individual, despite the means."  Although obtaining the music may directly benefit the individual's personal growth and experience, the act does not beget the greatest good for the greatest number of people.  The act of properly purchasing the material is what will benefit the most people, regardless of the individual's projected personal gain and happiness.