Jimin Baik/ 6th Assignment/ About Downloading and Sharing Music off the Internet/ Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Jimin Baik/ 6th Assignment/ About Downloading and Sharing Music off the Internet/ Thursday 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.   Sharing and Downloading the Music Online: A Disrespectful Deed for Musicians        There always has been controversy about downloading and sharing music off the Internet. Some people who agree with the idea say that the music files are part of online information for which people pay, so people should be able to download and share them freely. On the contrary, others think it's not right to download as well as share others' works without any payment. They also warn if people continue sharing and downloading them, the music industry will not be able to make a living, and people will not be able to listen to the good songs anymore. Between these two opinions, it's better not to allow sharing music online as well as downloading it without paying.        To begin with, surely internet users have the right to search music and listen to it; however, people can listen to the music through music videos that are officially released, not necessarily through free music files. Every music company distributes its musicians' music videos for free. In the music videos, there are always the musicians' songs as background music. So, if people's goal is only getting information and knowledge about the song, they can get enough from free music videos.        Also, if people want to listen to the song without video, they can buy CD of the song or download it after their payment. As I mentioned earlier in the introduction, some insist that since people pay to get information online, they should be able to share and listen to the songs online, just like they can get information on the Internet. But, first of all, since the music is someone's intellectual possession, downloading the music without payment is like stealing someone's work. Also, it is not a respectful attitude towards music composers and writers. Those who struggled to produce good music have right to receive corresponsive money.        There are several examples of online sites that ban free sharing as well as downloading of music files in Korea. Less than 10 years ago, in Korea, free music files were abundant on the internet. But the government has prohibited online free downloading of music files some years ago, and now no single site offers free music files. For example, Naver and Daum, the most popular searching engines in Korea, offers 1 minute free teaser of the songs as well as official music videos, but charges some money for the full songs. Also, every Korean site that provides music files, such as Bugs, Mnet, and Melon, receives some money from people who listen to the music from its site.        To sum up, of course the rights of Internet users must be protected, but so do the rights of musicians. When the two rights make a conflict, it's best to make a compromise for each other. Now that musicians already made some concession by allowing free music videos on the Internet, internet users should also pay some respect to their hard work by not downloading their works without payment. To better protect the music industry and the songs that they produce, sharing and downloading the music on the internet for free must be banned.