Napster

            Is downloading songs off of Napster morally acceptable? To answer that question one .
             needs to look into how Napster originated. Napster began in the dorm room of music and .
             computer enthuisiust Shawn Fanning, a 19 year-old college freshman at North Eastern .
             University in Boston in 1999. It started out being a project in which just a few friends were .
             trying to swap music and data to and from each other. To save time they wanted to create a .
             single place on the internet where they could store all of their information. This was much .
             easier than to physically go and borrow a CD or tape and then manually record it. It made .
             obtaining all of their music more practical and even more so only a few mouse clicks away. .
             This seemed harmless at first, but then as time went on their software soon became available .
             all over the campus and not long after, nationwide.
             By being able to download free music off of Napster you are taking away some .
             of the rights of the musicians and the music industry as a whole to make revenue off .
             their product. These individuals are the ones who have put not only their time but money .
             into the recordings. So ultimately the action of downloading is hurting the music industry. .
             The Utilitarian process of thinking is an action when made makes a greater number of .
             people the happiest over a long term then that action is confirmed the right action and .
             this would suggest that downloading off the internet is morally acceptable. No one can .
             deny the fact that getting free music can save a single consumer hundreds of dollars .
             each year. Saving money obviously makes the millions of music buyers happier, .
             supporting the Utilitarian views.
             If you are taking into consideration the Deontological point of view then you"re .
             examining the overall action of the trading itself and the rights of people along with the duties .
             of that trading. How can you trade something that is not legally yours to begin with? The .