Downloading -legal or illegal?

Watching this film forced me to ask again the question which I have asked many times so far. I have discussed it through with my family, friends, teachers  etc. but we  have still not found any common answer. I will try to present some statements considering this issue in this paper and I encourage you to leave your thoughts in the comments.

I would like to concentrate on the problem of sharing and downloading music from the Internet. There is a lot of Polish Websites where you can place and save the music for free. Is it legal? The Polish law says: YES. But there are some conditions. According to uploading: you are obliged to have all rights to the file which you are making accessible. According to downloading: you can do it only for your own use and you cannot share it with others. The problem is that the P2P downloading requires sharing so P2P downloading is against the law.

Well, why cannot I make an access to the files which I have downloaded? If it was the CD I could lend it  anyone and it would be legal, would not it?  
[You can find opinions of other internet users here.]
Moreover, when someone recorded the music and the file is commonly accessible why cannot I help others to find it? I agree that most of musicians want to earn and I respect it. However, what is the difference if someone downloads by oneself or with help? For the case of musician’s money there is no difference though. 

What could be more danger in this case is when you publish your own music file because there is a chance of property theft. I mean that someone can use your file (e.g. record it by oneself and say that it is his or her composition).

For example, I published one of my songs in the Net. The main reason was to smooth the way of listening it for my friends. However, I am not against listening it by others. However, I would be angry if someone recorded it again and published as his own.

According to the problem of downloading: why could  I not download the song which I can listen to on the radio even on the internet radio? Few years ago I could go to the shop to buy the tape, listen to the radio and push "record" when my favorite song appeared. What is the difference between those old way of collecting good music and the way of today?

I have to admit that this questions seem to be without the answers. Although the law says something about it, although the conscience says something else, the problem is to understand every voice in this discussion. It seems  that every voice is different and there is no rule who says NO to such business and who says YES.  

Identity Theft

I have chosen this short film as the base of my reflection about stolen identity. Maybe while watching it you have been wondering what does connect this film with the problem of privacy in the Web. I will try to explain it in few words.

Even though that the film is the parody of the movie and the problem of cloning, it shows that everyone can steal your identity  and such  situation may be danger, irritating and frustrating.  And this may happen via the Internet –it is enough to get just few information about you and someone can destroy your life.

This is the power of modern shape of the Net.

Do not you believe me? Here I would like to present some arguments confirming my statement.
First of all, I would like to ask what do we use Internet for?

• Searching the Information?  e.g. here YES
• Finding friends? e.g. here YES
• Staying in touch with  others?  e.g. here  or here YES
• Finances?  e.g.  YES
• Gossips?   e.g.  YES
• Education? e.g. YES

One word: EVERYTHING

And in all these areas you are a potential victim. I am not saying about the hackers –they have to be the specialists and have important reasons for stealing your identity. Moreover we use all the securities to save our dates. I suggest that the bigger danger for us are the people who we know personally in the real world.

To explain it I want to ask some other questions:

• Do your acquaintances have any photos of you?
• Do they know when you were born?
• Does anyone knows  your e-mail address, schools which you attended, interests etc?

I am convinced that the answers were: yes, yes, yes. So, what is the problem to create YOUR account wherever for them and to lead a virtual life in the name of you? It is obvious that such areas like finances are very well protected. However, the case of social media is completely free for those of your friends who want to do you harm. Such case happened to my friend.

Someone created HIS account on social portal . This person used the profile to send false messages to the other people. The result was that my friend had large problems with them and he did not know the reason. When he discovered the problem he had to create the real account and to rectify the situation.

I do not want to scare you or discourage to the Internet. I only want to give the information on such danger like identity theft  and sensitize you to such problem. Maybe we should give more efforts to check info which we get by the Net.