Today, there is a growing number of illegal downloads on music and movies. Some people feel that we should protect the artistic works and any copyrighted material. In this essay, I will discuss the effects of illegal downloading on individuals, society and economy, and explain why people should be penalized for this practice.
The primary reason is the practice of illegal downloading jeopardizes hard work of people. Artists spend a lot of money creating their music, and if people procure the music without paying for it, their motive makes no difference from stealing money from others’ pocket. Consequently, artists and actors get so discouraged that they give up creating more artworks for us. In order To prevent the loss of original artworks, those engaged in illegal activities should be punished.
Furthermore, the moral attitude of our society could severely be damaged by illegal downloading. It can be seen that online piracy deprive the financial rewards that artists deserve to receive. Thus, illegal downloading is considered as being equivalent to stealing. Unfortunately, the practice has become a social trend and numerous people just follow suit blindly without realising the damaging impacts of their action. If the authoritative bodies do not devise legislation to discourage this unethical act, it will misleadingly convey the message to the public that illegal downloading is a right conduct, both lawfully and ethically. (do u think this sounds stronger?? or you prefer ur original argument?)
Another point is the expansion of unauthorized downloads will threaten the economic growth. It is a shared fact that the entertainment industry contributes greatly to the national revenue. If there were no profits to make, the companies would no longer purchase the artworks from the band and playwrights, and some of them would even go bankrupt. In this way, there will be huge losses to the country’s economy.
To conclude, because of the harm they do to individuals, society and the economy, we should punish people who download illegally. Meanwhile, I believe that the government intervention can act as a deterrent role to the illegal downloaders, and will further help to resolve the problem.