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Why File Sharing is not Evil
An ardent follower of my blogs (starting from my earlier music blogging - napster -audio galaxy days) wrote to me recently questioning my judgement on why I continued to provide free download links to MP3’s and Avi files in my music and movie blog posts. Considering the hostile climate surrounding file-sharing, he wanted to know if I had forgotten about my precious little Music blog which Google had banned in 2008. Why was I risking my name, time, money and reputation again in needless legal wrangles and a possible re-ban in giving away those links when I could instead just write about them and leave the downloads aside.
He was indeed right. And as a content syndicator myself, giving away those free links would certainly look like the cardinal sin but ponder deeply and you’ll see the larger good. Give me 5 minutes to explain.
Have you ever seen the movie - Local Hero? The reason why I ask is because it happens to be one of my most favorites. It was released in 1983, stars Burt Lancaster and Peter Reigert and wasn’t a big hit at the box office. It just did OK but it’s an awesome feel-good movie with a stellar soundtrack by Mark Knopfler that definitely needs to be seen and enjoyed, even if its 2010. Same is the case of That Night which came out in 1992. Based on the Alice McDermott novel, it’s a romantic drama set in 1961 starring poster boy C. Thomas Howell, Juliette Lewis, Helen Shaver and a very young Eliza Dushku. Chances are, if a friend of yours didn’t tell you about these 2 movies or if you missed them on the TV or theaters, you might never have heard about them. But, now you have!!
The same logic would apply to Music stars too. So many good bands, so many good artists but miss a beat and you never know they exist.
Letting you discover cine gems like Local Hero or That Night or a aural delight like Skye Edwards and perhaps hundreds of similar great movies, great bands and fantastic musicians is pretty much why I blog about Music and Cinema. And since many of them don't get their fair dose of spotlite, whats the point in writing about them when you cant actually view or hear them? Besides, my posts are thank you notes to anonymous bloggers and file-sharers who introduced me to some of the best movies I ever saw and some of the best bands that ever rocked on earth. A way of giving back.
He was indeed right. And as a content syndicator myself, giving away those free links would certainly look like the cardinal sin but ponder deeply and you’ll see the larger good. Give me 5 minutes to explain.
Have you ever seen the movie - Local Hero? The reason why I ask is because it happens to be one of my most favorites. It was released in 1983, stars Burt Lancaster and Peter Reigert and wasn’t a big hit at the box office. It just did OK but it’s an awesome feel-good movie with a stellar soundtrack by Mark Knopfler that definitely needs to be seen and enjoyed, even if its 2010. Same is the case of That Night which came out in 1992. Based on the Alice McDermott novel, it’s a romantic drama set in 1961 starring poster boy C. Thomas Howell, Juliette Lewis, Helen Shaver and a very young Eliza Dushku. Chances are, if a friend of yours didn’t tell you about these 2 movies or if you missed them on the TV or theaters, you might never have heard about them. But, now you have!!
The same logic would apply to Music stars too. So many good bands, so many good artists but miss a beat and you never know they exist.
Letting you discover cine gems like Local Hero or That Night or a aural delight like Skye Edwards and perhaps hundreds of similar great movies, great bands and fantastic musicians is pretty much why I blog about Music and Cinema. And since many of them don't get their fair dose of spotlite, whats the point in writing about them when you cant actually view or hear them? Besides, my posts are thank you notes to anonymous bloggers and file-sharers who introduced me to some of the best movies I ever saw and some of the best bands that ever rocked on earth. A way of giving back.
You know about the big hits on the radio and most of the films that played a few months ago at the local multiplex but with my help, now’s the time to choose what you’re going to watch and hear at home (or office) tonight. How do you make heads or tails out of the confusion of the colorful DVDs at your video rental or the large number of audio CDs at the music store? Choosing DVDs you want to rent for an evening, a music CD as a gift for your cousin or just add to your own personal library can often be an overwhelming experience. With my own personal (mostly legal)collection of over 10000 movies and over 50000 songs (MP3s, CDs and Audio tapes of various assortments - some of them which cost a fortune), I suppose I’m here to make that process a little less daunting and a little more enjoyable (or at least that is what I would like to believe).
And if you’re someone who knows my various avatars or has been following my audio and video reviews across the blogosphere and the print world, you’ll find that my posts are sometimes critical, sometimes humorous, sometimes offbeat but all of them share a personal touch. My approach is to talk about music and cinema the way you do with your friends and family. Whether it’s a horror film that seems a bit overdone, a sci-fi actioner that takes place in outer space or the euro metal band from Estonia, I want to make what you discover through me a special pleasure that makes owning it absolutely worth it (even if those means are supposedly illegal). So, let me be your guide. Your local friendly web Samaritan(or bootlegger)!!
And if you have a special movie or music which is really great, just go ahead and share it for the world. Ignore the piracy nonsense. All file sharing is not evil.
P.S: This is a DejaVu post since I had posted something similar on February 2009. You can read it here - http://websnacker.blogspot.com/2009/02/confessions-of-bootlegger.html
Free Movie Link - Local Hero - Stagevu Movie Link - Watch Online or Download
Know what file-sharing is perfectly fine for the Indian spirit and sensibility. We as a race have always been generous and hospitable. So why not show that in file-sharing. We are not closed and secretive about everything as the Americas. We love to share and we shall do it with elan!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by my blog and following it as well. Please take time to write your insights on the posts as well.
Nice coming by here. I like what I see and read!
Have a lovely weekend. Maybe you are somewhere close by as you are from Chennai as well :)
Joy always,
Susan