Stealing Beauty: Confessions of a 'Lectronic Thief
January 2003
by David Brown

It's 11:37pm on a Friday night. You're out dancing the night away and pounding $3 Rolling Rocks like they are liquid sex. You're having a great time lost in your weekend escape from the drudgery of life. Me? I'm holed up in my dark, shrinking apartment hunched over the glow from my computer screen. My beady eyes grow beadier and syndrome is tunneling into my carpal. I click and scan, click and scan, type, click, scan and click. The hard drive whirs and the DSL modem cooks. I am hacking into your computer, left always on and always online. I am reaching deep into the recesses of your files to extract what I want, taking it for my own devious purposes. In just a matter of seconds I am the proud new owner of Rush's "Red Barchetta."

So it goes, the life of a music thief. It's too easy, too fun, and altogether filthy. How dare someone like me take what others have to pay for. But those others are becoming fewer and fewer. A nation of outlaws is threatening the livelihood of music industry scum with our skullduggery. Is it all in the name of progress and revolution? Or is it just a bunch of jerk-offs trying to save a few bucks?

Of course in the old days, if you wanted an album but didn't want to pay for it, you just found a friend who had it. And through the magic of the dual tape deck, Voila! It's yours. I don't remember a lot of sulking or lawsuits from the record companies back then. I don't think I ever paid for a Zeppelin album until I went back and started purchasing them on CD as an adult.

And let's examine the case of the aforementioned Rush. I bought Moving Pictures in 7th grade. What erstwhile white male suburban junior high school loser hasn't gone through a phase when he thought Rush was the greatest musical experience the earth could ever produce? Upon the realization that this was perhaps a slight exaggeration, my musical herd was thinned at the expense of the Canadian power trio.

But years later, for some reason, I get that hunger again. It resides deep down, and I am ashamed to admit it. But goddammit, I need to hear Red Barchetta again RIGHT NOW. They already got my royalties for this song once. I'll be damned if they're going to take more money from me. I'll just borrow it for a little while from some guy named peartrocks4ever@kazaa.

Of course, before long, you're filling in the cracks of your Dylan collection by downloading all of Desire and burning it onto CD. And then the guilt sets in. Especially when you're helping yourself to the new Ani DiFranco album. That chick started her own label! She's the epitome of the successful independent artist. It's one thing not to feed the beast, but don't starve the good guys. We'll pick that one up on Amazon using that gift certificate I just got. Keepin' in real never felt so good.

It only really feels like stealing if you burn the CD and put it on the shelf. Otherwise you're just borrowing – sharing really. Hell, it's no more criminal than radio. If the song stays on your hard drive, eventually to be returned to the electronic dust from whence it came, then it ain't no crime. Go out and buy the good stuff, the stuff you trust. Don't be afraid to take the occasional chance. And when it comes to that occasional tune that you hear on the radio from time to time and think, "Yeah, I might like to have that song," just take it. That's what the internet is for, isn't it? And always remember: anything that could potentially damage the music industry can only be a good thing.

(David Brown is a volunteer staff writer for 2 Walls Webzine)