I surveyed 100 students on campus, and when asked this question 27 students felt that music piracy should be illegal, 72 students felt it shouldn’t be illegal, and 2 students were undecided on how they felt about the situation. Here are some of the opinions of the students surveyed:



“Yes. Well if you really like the music, you should buy what you like instead of downloading it. Downloading is a form of stealing”

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Regina Salinas, 16



“ They need to find the downloading website instead of suing the people”

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Asuncion Santiago, 16



“ No, because there’s too many people doing it- practically everyone with an internet connection. That’s like making cigarettes illegal.”

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Juliet Stein, 17



“ No, because the people are getting our money and becoming rich. Music should be free Man!!!”

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Guillermo Deleon, 17



“ Sharing is caring. That’s all we’re doing. We could very well burn a friends CD, it’s the same thing.”

- Elizabeth Iniguez, 17



“ Yes, because when you download music you’re stealing money from the artists who worked hard on their music.”

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Luisa Olmedo, 14



“ Believe it or not, I do think that music piracy should be illegal, because we are taking away a person’s money…. I download music so often that I would hate getting sued for it, but maybe it should be illegal.”

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Dorian Simon, 17



“ I don’t think music piracy should be illegal because some people don’t have the money to purchase a CD, so they download it on the internet.”

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Danielle Alford, 17



“ No, because why pay money for a CD and there is only 2 or 3 good songs on the whole CD, if you could download them from the computer for free.’

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Omar Ramos, 16



“ I am different. I think that it is, in a huge way, stealing from the artist by not paying for their music. However, for convenience, it’s incredible. I have a policy of buying CD’s instead of burning them- a respect I pay to the artists. Heavy downloaders, I’m not a fan of. People who occasionally download a song, I’m fine with. It’s really a matter of usage. How much one does it affects my opinion.”

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Nik Bilderback, 15



“ No, because even if you make it illegal, someone is going to go around it. They should just make some kind of way to charge the people who do it.”

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Aishia Williams, 15



“ If it’s free, why should I pay for it. Besides, CD’s are outrageously priced anyways… It doesn’t make sense, from a financial point of view. Music should be free for all to here.”

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Ajmal Noorzayee, 17



“ If we here it first, then we might buy the CD in the future.”

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Eric Perez, 17



“ The stars already make enough money for concerts, and others still buy the albums. If we’re not allowed to copy music, then what about Mp3 players? Video cassettes and audio cassettes? These all promote piracy. It’s the company’s fault.”

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Manuel Solis, 14



“ A lot of people can’t afford to buy CD’s. This way those people can get the songs they want.”

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Brandon Ellis, 17



“ Many of us want to hear good music and we can’t afford to pay for every CD or song we like.”

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Lorena Reynoso, 17



“ Yes, because the record companies are losing money.”

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Michael Jimenez, 15



Editor’s Take



Even tho most of the artists money is made through concerts and other promotional events, a great deal of their profit is made from record sales. If everyone is downloading the music on the internet, record sales plummet. If record sales aren’t doing well, the artists begin to lose money. Personally, I feel that the web sites that promote this behavior should be shut down. It’s not fare to the artists or the record companies, that their hard work and effort put into these album go unappreciated and most importantly unpaid for.