Eagle's Eye Online

iTunes Vs. Illegal Downloading
Posted 10/6/09 * Aaron g.

iTunes versus Illegal Downloading

The music industry has been in a downward spiral with each new evolution in music piracy. Artists who record new albums and sell them as CD’s are realizing that iTunes is no longer the way the music buying population wants to purchase their music, if they buy it at all. More and more people are illegally downloading music via Limewire, Kazaa, torrents, phazemp3, katz.cd, Bear Share and many others. The listeners who download this music are paying absolutely nothing to the artists and recording companies while they are robbing them of their merchandise.

iTunes is an internet website that works with Apple to sell the music through a legitimate service to those who wish to buy these songs. The most popular songs cost $.99 to $1.29 that would make 10 songs cost from $9.90 to $12.90. This is a price that most people can afford, but some see it as a roundabout way for getting music that can be downloaded for free.

Free music downloading is illegal and people who are caught using sites like Limewire pay huge penalties if convicted. For example, a family owed $4,080 to record companies for stealing 834 songs from the artists those companies represent. A twelve-year-old girl was sued along with 261 others in New York for illegally downloading songs from Kazaa, a website that streams the songs illegally. More and more people are being prosecuted for illegally downloading music, and though these have settled for relatively low amounts of money, the penalty for the crime could be up to $150,000.

Illegal downloading is not only detrimental to the individual, but it negatively affects the global economy. According to the Institute of Policy Innovation, music piracy causes $12.5 billion in loss every year to the economy and the termination of approximately 70,000 United States jobs.

The people who are hurt the most from this illegal activity are the artists. Musicians are entertainers who provide a service and they deserve compensation. When people illegally download a song from an artist, they are stealing the service. As consumers, we must take the first steps to legitimize the music industry and stop downloading music illegally.

In order to put music back in its place as a mainstream product of culture, listeners must respect the artists and the simple idea of economics where a person pays in order to receive a product.

Waterboarding
Posted 10/6/09 * Robyn L.

Imagine being strapped to a board, bound and gagged, as gallons and gallons of water are poured down your throat. This is the torture technique “water boarding”, commonly used in Guantanamo Bay and other interrogation facilities. It is meant to make the person feel like they are drowning. America has a policy against torture and with Obama’s new Presidency; the Attorney General has begun an investigation into the water boarding claims. Last month the Attorney General, Eric H. Holder Jr., decided to conduct a “preliminary investigation” as he put the Assistant U.S. Attorney, John Durham, in charge of the investigation. Holder has instructed Durham to only look for low level operatives who went too far during interrogations. The low level operatives were following the limits, set out by high ranking officials and lawyers. The high ranking officials and lawyers who supported, justified, and organized the torture program should be under investigation as well.

John Durham may in fact not make any arrests for the use of torture. He stated, “Neither the opening of a preliminary review nor, if evidence warrants it, the commencement of a full investigation, means that charges will necessarily follow”. This is understandable but the scope of the preliminary investigation must be widened. The center for constitutional rights said “Responsibility for the torture program cannot be laid at the feet of a few low-level operatives. Some agents in the field may have gone further than the limits so ghoulishly laid out by the lawyers who twisted the law to create legal cover for the program, but it is the lawyers and the officials who oversaw and approved the program who must be investigated”. The law applies to everyone, even high ranking officers, who are being protected by members of the Republican Party.

The Republican Party has said that pursuing high ranking officers and lawyers is unnecessary because it was during former President George Bush’s administration. They believe that it is not important to prosecute and investigate the crimes that took place in the past. Justice has no time limit. The people who organized the torture system need to be brought to justice, and they can not hide behind the fact that it took place in the last President’s administration. Also, Republican members have said that investigating into the higher ranking officials is detrimental to national security. These are officials who served during the last administration; they can easily be replaced if there were formal charges pressed against them. Replacing CIA agents or lawyers would in no way affect national security.

This is a matter of equality, and our government’s integrity. Members of the government are not above the law. A government is made up of people for the people and a shiny badge that says “CIA” doesn’t mean they “sort of” must abide by the law. Where do we draw the line? It begins with government officials interpreting laws they choose to follow, and soon it spirals into an autocratic dictatorship where the government is a force to be feared.

Not to be misunderstood, the low-level operatives who went too far during interrogations should be prosecuted. The high-ranking officers who supported and designed the torture program should be brought to justice as well. The Attorney General should instruct Durham to widen his scope in his preliminary investigation. The government has a tendency to find someone to blame, this person is not always the right person to blame. Everyone who designed, organized, and executed the water boarding program should be brought to justice regardless of rank or political party.