This paper examines the issue of downloading music for free illegally. It summarizes two journal articles that studied how anticipated guilt and personal ethics influence people's decisions to illegally download music. The first article found that people with higher anticipated guilt were less likely to download illegally again. The second article found that illegal downloaders had lower ethical concerns and felt downloading did not harm musicians or companies. The paper also discusses how the Marshall University library provides valuable free resources like databases and interlibrary loans that help students research topics and save money compared to other options.

1. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 1
Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft?
Marshall University
Dr. Harold Blanco
FYS 100
June 22, 2015
Callie Marcum
Jordan Leonard
Bobby Midkiff
Abstract

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Illegally downloading music is a controversial discussion in the U.S. in today’s world. Many
people are on the fence about this issue, some want to fight it or they are in agreement with it.
Scholarly information was contrasted with non-scholarly information in order to give our group
an understanding of what reliable information is. Scholarly information is used in scientific
research and non-scholarly information is commonly found in the media. Both types of
information were used to research the topic. The effects of music piracy on music companies’
profits was first researched, along with how music companies are cracking down on piracy. The
morality of the issue was further investigated by researching the “anticipated guilt,” or how
guilty the downloaders felt before illegally downloading music, and by measuring the ethical
concern the downloaders had in general. Music companies lose billions of dollars annually and
the fight against music piracy has increased. Illegal music downloaders were found to have low
anticipated guilt because they do not believe they are breaking a law. Downloaders also had less
ethical concern or moral convictions in general. This paper taught us how to find reliable
information online and the importance of finding reliable information.
I. Reliable information can be found in journals by searching on Marshall databases or by
browsing trustworthy sites. You can differentiate reliable information from non-reliable
information by looking for the lack of ads in a website, the presence of a bibliography, a lack of

3. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 3
bias in the writing, and seeing if the work is published and if a trustworthy organization has
written the work.
Non-scholarly information is commonly found in popular commercials and in trade
groups, while scholarly information is found in academic institutions and professional
associations. Non-scholarly information is not cited and does not include bibliographies, while
scholarly information does include bibliographies. Although non-scholarly information has brief
articles, lasting on average 1-7 pages, scholarly information has longer articles, lasting over 5
pages. Scholarly information uses technical language with writing focused on a specific area.
Non-scholarly information writes to a wider audience and employs less technical use of words.
Scholarly information is more myopic in the topics of its writings and describes information in
more detail than non-scholarly does.
Scholarly information is peer reviewed, meaning an editorial board has read and edited
the work. Non-scholarly information lacks a public editing system, and is therefore more prone
to error and bias. Writers of scholarly information include freelancers and employees of the
publication, but writers of non-scholarly information include researchers, professionals, and
commercial publishers. A writer of non-scholarly information therefore could be a dilettante, but
a scholarly writer will be specialized in the field of his writing.
Non-scholarly information is used to entertain or inform the general public, while
scholarly information shares research and ideas. Examples of non-scholarly information include
editorials such as Rolling Stone, news channels such as CNN, and bloggers. An example of
scholarly information would be a researcher writing in a scientific journal. Scholarly information
does not include advertisements while non-scholarly does include advertisements.

4. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 4
II. The music industry is facing many problems in the age of the internet. It is losing money
to illegal downloading that would normally benefit the label, artist, publisher, and many other
entities that would profit from the sale of the artist’s work. As of 2010, it is estimated that 95%
of music today is pirated (Sheehan, 2012). This is a major problem in the United States as the
estimated loss of revenue is 3.7 billion dollars annually (Sheehan, 2012). The piracy of music has
an impact on a large portion of the population. The majority of online piracy comes from the
younger generation of music listeners. It is said that this may be because youths have less of an
attachment to the legal and ethical aspects of music consumption (Weijters, 2014). While
congress has trouble deciding how to regulate how media is consumed on the web, music
industry leaders are taking actions into their own hands by working with internet providers to
find music pirates (Clemmitt, 2012). I was able to find this information using the popular
databases provided by Marshall University libraries. I found the first two articles using the
academic search primer. I checked scholarly sources and found a few articles that provided a
wealth of information on the subject of music downloading and the ethics of downloading music.
They came from journals that are peer reviewed experts who are respected in their fields. The
last reference I found was in the CQ Researcher in the reference databases of Marshall’s library.
I found an article that mentions music downloading, but the main focus was on Internet
regulation. It was an interesting read on how music downloading has spurred the wave of debate
for internet regulation.
III. Using the summon feature I searched the Marshall University library for a book on music
downloading. I found several books on the first page that covered the topic. The first one in the
search fit the topic perfectly. It was a book called “Music Piracy and Crime Theory” written by
Sameer Hinduja (2006). The book is about theories on why people view criminal activity

5. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 5
differently in the digital age and why that would be the case. The book references several
research methods that will be analyzed later on in the book to try and figure out why society
currently views the theft of intellectual property in such a way. It will also try and figure out
methods that can combat this current trend in behavior (Hinduja, 2006).
This book was written to inform the reader of current trends in music and criminal
activity on the Internet. The book also brings up scientific research done on the subject from
several sources and gives an example of how those theories would explain ways of cause and
effect (Hinduja, 2006). Music Piracy and Crime Theory was published by LFB Scholarly
Publishing LLC in 2006 (Hinduja, 2006). LFB Scholarly Publishing is a company that offers
books and articles in targeted fields in the social sciences. They are generally a focused series
and refereed by senior scholars (June, 2015).
The book looks like it’s straightforward in its analysis. It starts with a brief overview of
the subject going to be covered. Vital information on what music law is and how it pertains to
the Internet is presented to the reader. The information is explained in various levels of the
industry. It then gives an overview of the theories presented to discuss the topic. From there it
gives the results of the studies that used specific theories in their hypothesis. It gives implications
of the research and what information was gained and how it can be potentially used (Hinduja,
2006).
The book was published in 2006, which is roughly nine years ago. I would say more
research has been done on the theories presented and further information has been gain as
technologies have changed since the time of publishing. I would say some of it is still valid, but
some current music platforms were non-existent when this book was written.

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Sameer Hinduja is an associate professor at Florida Atlantic University and has published
several books and articles relating to criminal theory and criminal justice. He is specialized in
Internet safety, use of technology by children and adolescents, cyberbullying, social networking,
online privacy, ethics and information technology, and cybercrime (Hinduja. 2015). He received
his Ph.D. in criminal justice from Michigan State University (Hinduja, 2015).
The bibliography page is very extensive in the book. It is sorted into alphabetical order
and twenty-one pages in length. The book is very relevant to the research paper that we are
presenting as a group. It discusses the foundations and general principles of music downloading
and intellectual property theft. It has vast coverage on the issues in our topic. It looks at them
through a scientific standpoint and relates modern sociological theories to the issues of music
downloading. It takes a scholarly standpoint on the subject and covers it following the scientific
method.
The audience for this book is people with an interest in the subject. I would not say this is
for the casual reader. This is a scholarly published book that is for students, specialists in the
profession, and scholars. It has a vast about of scientific information that would not be for the
general reader. It is to inform people who are interested in the topic and for others already in the
field. The book also includes charts and graphs that are clear and professional. They are cited and
contain a bibliography entry in the back of the book to back up the information provided
(Hinduja, 2006).
IV. The first journal article was titled, “The Immorality of Illegal Downloading: The Role of
Anticipated Guilt and General Emotions.” This article tested a group of students’ “anticipated
guilt,” or how guilty they felt before illegally downloading music. The students took an online
survey asking if they had downloaded illegally before and if they thought the act was moral or

7. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 7
immoral. The results showed that those who had “anticipated guilt” and felt guilty about
breaking the law were less likely to download illegally than those who saw no issue in it. It
showed that those who faced a negative emotion when downloading music chose not to do it
again, while those who did not have a negative emotion chose to download again (Wang,
McClung 2011).
This article was written by Xiao Wang, a professor in communication studies at
Rochester Institute of Technology, and by Steven McClung, a professor of communication
studies at Mercer University (Wang, McClung 2011). Both authors had been researching
cognition and ethics since 2010 (R.I.T. 2015) and are specialized in researching mental behaviors
(McClung 2010). The two institutions are credible. This article’s purpose was to predict future
occurrences of illegal downloaders and to provide insight into the role of emotions on
downloading. A bibliography was included which cited 12 articles (Wang, McClung 2011).
The article was published by Elsevier and was peer reviewed (Wang,McClung 2011). I
know this because of the search options I chose when searching for the article. This article is
factual does not contain bias. The work was published in September 2011. It is appropriate
because it shows that those who do download music illegally are less likely to feel guilty about
breaking a law because they do not see it as a crime (Wang, McClung 2011). This leads to a
cogent implication that illegal music downloaders have no moral issue with downloading.
The second article was, “Money for Nothing and Hits for free: The Ethics of
Downloading Music from Peer-to-Peer Web Sites.” This study tried to find a correlation between
a person’s ethics and illegally downloading music. The results showed that those who
downloaded music illegally had lower ethical concern than those who did not, making those who
download illegally less concerned about the morality of doing so. Downloaders were also more

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likely to agree that record companies make too much money and that downloading illegally will
not harm the musicians (Levin, Dato-on, Rhee 2004). The study also showed that downloaders
purchased more CDs than non-downloaders and showed that downloading music illegally does
not reduce the willingness of the downloader to purchase CDs. The students also felt that
downloading music made amends for the company's excessive prices. Each test asked whether
the students felt that there was harm being done to the companies, if the musicians would benefit
from it, and if they believed the companies were deceptive in their marketing tactics (Levin,
Dato-on, Rhee 2004).
This article was written by Aron Levin, professor of statistics, Mary Dato-on, professor
of marketing, and Kenneth Rhee professor of management. All three are qualified due to the
roles they played in the study and in their knowledge and experience. Levin has a PhD in
marketing (Northern Kentucky University 2015), Dato-on has a specialty in mental health and
behavioral studies (Sage Publications 2015), and Rhee has a specialty in adult behavioral
development (Northern Kentucky University 2015). The organization was Northern Kentucky
University, which is a credible institution. This study was altruistic because it was written to
challenge music companies to change their marketing techniques in order to appeal to illegal
music downloaders (Levin, Dato-on, Rhee 2004). The article includes a bibliography. This is a
peer-reviewed work and there is no bias in the writing. The article was written in 2004, but the
findings on the downloader’s morals are still relevant to the illegal music downloaders of today.
Students that illegally downloaded music justified doing so by believing that music companies
can remain financially stable even with their illegal downloads (Levin, Dato-on, Rhee 2004).
This article was important because it shows that personal ethics played a role in deciding to
illegally download music.

9. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 9
V. Marshall University’s library can be a huge money saver for those who attend the school
or affiliated with the school such as: faculty or some other form of staff. The library can help
you save money by allowing you to use the databases and the resources they offer. Some
resources they offer that can be helpful are: databases, IDS, and E-Z borrow all for free. These
sources are helpful because you can go to multiple places to find information within the
databases. Depending on your topic you are able to search based on that or even go to another
database to search for your answer. No matter which database you use, you can type in a
keyword and all things related to this topic appear and you can even filter your results. These
results can be based upon peer review or just an article are some examples. Some databases have
the most up to date information out there or some can have peer review journals, which are also
helpful. These peer review journals are helpful in the sense that they have been written by
people who know what they are talking about and it has factual information. If you are looking
for a book that Marshall may not have you can go to E-Z borrow and get it sent to you for free,
this is also something you can only do if you are affiliated with the school. If E-Z borrow does
not have this book you are looking for there is another alternative, IDS. IDS is another free
resource used to look for books that Marshall may not have, but can get for you. If you needed
information for research or for any reason and you were not a student or affiliated with the
university, you would not be permitted to look at this information. In result you would have to
pay hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars to access one of these resources. Being a student,
you are able to access all of this instead of having to go somewhere else and pay money for all of
this information so, this way is more affordable. With all of these resources available to you it
does help you to make better grades. You are able to learn more, get the right information from
the right place and you can cite your work properly. This assignment has changed my outlook

10. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 10
on academic research because, I did not know there were so many other resources out there
besides Google. You can find a lot more information that is factual and has been written by your
peers or maybe people that specialize in this field. So in result you are getting the latest and best
information out there possible which will make your paper or research, even better. This
assignment has changed my mind on downloading free music because, it is illegal and takes
money away from the people who make this music. Also, downloading music for free is not
worth getting sued and fined a bunch of money for some songs you stole.
References
SHEEHAN, B., TSAO, J., & POKRYWCZYNSKI, J. (2012). Stop the Music!. Journal Of
Advertising Research, 52(3), 309-321. doi:10.2501/JAR-52-3-309-321 S
Weijters, B., Goedertier, F., & Verstreken, S. (2014). Online Music Consumption in Today's
Technological Context: Putting the Influence of Ethics in Perspective. Journal of Business
Ethics, 124(4), 537-550. doi:10.1007/s10551-013-1892-y
Clemmitt, M. (2012, April 13). Internet regulation. CQ Researcher, 22, 325-348. Retrieved from
http://library.cqpress.com/
Hinduja, S. (2006). Music Piracy and Crime Theory. New York: LFB Scholarly Pub. LLC.
(June 2015). Zoom Company Information, Retrieved from
www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic

11. Is downloading music for free the moral equivalent to theft? 11
Hinduja, S. (n.d.). . Retrieved from
http://porter.schools.pwcs.edu/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/494234/File/Dr.pdf
Wang, X.,& Mcclung, S. (n.d.).The immoralityof illegal downloading:The role of anticipatedguiltand
general emotions.ComputersinHumanBehavior,153-159.
Levin,A.,Dato-on,M.,& Rhee,K.MONEY FOR NOTHINGANDHITS FOR FREE: THE ETHICS OF
DOWNLOADINGMUSIC FROMPEER TO-PEER WEB SITES,48-57.
Rochester Institute of Technology (2015), Referenced from
https://www.rit.edu/cla/communication/faculty-staff/xiao-wang
McClung, S. (2010) Referenced from http://faculty.mercer.edu/mcclung_sr/vita.pdf
Northern Kentucky University (2015) Referenced from
http://cob.nku.edu/departments/mesb/people/levin.html
http://cob.nku.edu/departments/management/people/kennethrhee.html
Sage Publications (2015) Referenced from
http://www.sagepub.com/authorDetails.nav?contribId=662736
(n.d.). In Marshall University Library . Retrieved June 17, 2015, from
http://www.marshall.edu/library/