The Never Ending Cycle of Music Piracy

Ever since my first CD purchase (which I won't mention who the artist was as it is quite embarrassing for myself) there have been ways to share, spread, and illegally copy the music. Even in middle school I knew how to burn my friend's CDs and increase my music collection for free. Several years later online music piracy is still a prevalent issue causing $12.5 billion of economic loss every year.

Since that time when I loved cute boy bands and popular one hit wonders, the only thing that has changed for online piracy is newer technology and the expanse of internet use, both of which only help spread illegal file sharing among individuals. While investigations are sprouting up in every city world-wide, many argue that the legislation system is catching up to those who partake in online pirated music and will one day be stopped. But can online piracy ever be completely stopped?

The answer to that question is no. After the federal courts shut down Napster, there were hundreds if not thousands of other websites allowing individuals to file share across borders. People can file share anything from music, books, movies, pictures, magazines, etc. ANYTHING can be made into a digital copy and spread illegally to other nations and the fact is that our federal courts are just not physically capable of keeping up with the speed of new websites and technology available for users today. The only true way for legislation to stop online music piracy would be to shut down the world wide web.

John Lennon would rise from the dead before legislation could put an end to pirated music.