I was on Ares downloading music the other day when suddenly the fear hit me.  It was far from I first time on a music download site, but I'd never thought about the possibility of getting caught before.  It is music downloads seem safe as far as I can tell.  Of course there is always the chance that you will be busted by some random P2P network sting, but that happens so rarely that it seemed like a virtual impossibility.  Then, I started to worry.

 Now I admit that I do not use legal music downloading.  My main use of Ares downloading music, actually, is to check out albums that I do not have yet.  If I like them, then I can go out and buy them, but if I do not, I can erase them and never worry about them again.  Now, I will admit that not everyone who uses Ares downloading music does it in just this way.  In fact, there are a lot of people who will download MP3s and never pay for a CD in their life.  But, to tell you the truth, I don't exactly see why  using Ares downloading music  like this is a bad thing.  Oh sure, it will hurt some of the biggest musicians, but it certainly will help the smaller ones.  Being able to share and exchange songs over the Internet means that people can discover the bands that they like, and that they might never have heard on their own.  Ares music downloading, as well as other P2P networking sites, allows the consumer an unprecedented opportunity to check out music from all over the world, while at the same time allowing bands to find a fan base, even if they are not picked up by a major label.  It is no wonder that the major labels, and the RIAA which represents them, are so against Ares downloading music.  It threatens their control of the music industry.

One of my favorite things about Ares downloading music is the way that it makes albums that are out of print available.  There is so much buzz in the press about people trading in popular music and depriving artists and labels of the money that they would otherwise make, but no one talks about the fact that many of these albums being traded are out of print.  No one is making any money on them anyway, since no one is selling them.  Is there really any harm in trading these albums on Ares downloading music?