Media piracy is a topic that is becoming more and more prominent in our country, especially as the debate of internet regulation is continually growing. Some argue that stealing intellectual property is as heinous of a crime as stealing physical property, and people should be punished as such. Others argue that you just cannot regulate music and media like you can physical property, and since artists and production companies experience no tangible loss per song stolen.

In the article in USA Today, the writer explains his experience in China where he bought a CD, and was sure it was pirated, since most of the CDs sold, even in legitimate CD stores, are pirated and sold for dirt cheap. The pirated music was of excellent quality - indistinguishable from areal CD. This lead the writer to realize that musicians in China use CDs not as money makers but as promotion tools. Artists in China make their real money off of donations and concerts. The writer argues that this is a good thing, and that the artists are okay with the system as is.

In a different article in TNJN, the writer argues that music piracy is still an issue, and needs to be fixed. The article states: "Music piracy is not only stealing music from the artist but the producers, technicians and everybody involved in the music making process. By pirating music, individuals are being put out of jobs and limiting the flow of new bands entering the industry." It discusses how the RIAA has sued 159 students at UT, offering a $3,000 settlement in place of challenging them in court.

Both of these articles highlight the extreme endpoints of the media piracy debate; There are many people with much more moderate views in between. Personally, I think the actions of the RIAA are disgusting, and I cannot comprehend how a court actually justified making some poor lady pay 200K for a couple downloaded songs.