Is Music Piracy Unethical?

Ever since iPods, mp3 players, Zunes, etc. were created, mp3s ( music files ) have also been there. Mp3s are available everywhere. iTunes, Rhapsody, Yahoo! Music all sell legal music, but, places like Limewire, Pirate Bay, Frostwire, etc. are examples of  places where people go to get the illegal pirated version of music. Due to the creation of these P2P files sharing websites/programs, the RIAA have been telling us, warning us, and threatening us that illegal downloaded music will cost you, but is downloading music truly unethical?

There is a very big difference between illegal, and unethical. By dictionary, Illegal is defined as prohibited by law or statue, and Unethical, is defined as pertaining to morals, or the principles of morality. So, in summary, illegal acts are not allowed, but unethical acts should not be allowed. So, should we download music from illegal file sharing websites?

Once, online I had illegally obtained a single track from my friend, and although that was unethical, the track, then led me to purchasing 3 albums from that author, and I had ended up shelling out for this particular artist's performances.
"The legit market feeds off the black market." says Mr.Grossman (author of TIMES magazine)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18644781/ii

Blackout

TEAM PWN

Netflix vs. Blockbuster : Which one is better?

I'm sure you know of the two movie rental companies, Blockbuster and Netflix and their competition between the different services they provide. This article, by John P. Falcone of CNET reviews, is about those two companies, their different movie rental plans, and how you can decide for yourself, which one is in fact better than the other. The article is complete with a short paragraph about the two companies, a quick overview and side-by-side comparison.

Because our magazine is in fact about online entertainment, online movie renting obviously falls into this category and I felt it was pretty important for our readers, you guys, to know about this particular competition. I recommend you read it, it is very interesting and a good way to decide whether you'd want to venture into the world of online movie renting and what service you would prefer to use.

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11445_7-6325775-1.html

Scorponok
TEAM PWN

DRM on iTunes

As of Janurary of 2009, Apple upgraded almost 90% of their ten million track catalog to what was formerly known as iTunes Plus, meaning that the songs sold are now all encoded at a 256-kpbs bit rate. This also means that all your tracks now come free of digital rights management (DRM), meaning you can share your music on as many computers as you'd like. The change came when three of the biggest record labels in the music industry - Sony BMG, Warner Music, and Universal - agreed to allow iTunes to sell their songs without the restriction of DRM. iTunes Plus, which is now the standard, is also available for the rest of your library for upgrading at a cost of thirty cents per track and 30% of the cost of the album.

This new policy comes with a catch - songs are now sold at varying prices, either $0.69, $0.99, or $1.29, depending on the record label.  Usually, the songs that are purchased more often are more likely to be sold at the $1.29 level, while vintage or less popular songs will be pushed down to $0.69 (it is believed that more songs will be sold at the latter price than the former.) On the whole, the new iTunes format presents a big change in the way music is sold and shared, while retaining a familiar interface for users.


http://www.macworld.com/article/138000/2009/01/drm_faq.html

Bonecrusher
TEAM PWN

Google's YouTube

Sep.29,2009
Today i read Online Media Daily, the article on "Google's YouTube Finds Money In Analistics". After reading that article i feel like the companies on the internet are becoming back stabers to each other. In the article its says that Google has videos from YouTube and instead of using copyright some people just hack into there systems and take what they want. i sont understand why companies should take like that. But another think i found out in this article was that Google is on top when it comes to online media.So for you Google company i would watch out because you never know when someone is going to hack you. And for everyone else google is the way to go for information, but when it comes to videos and music go to YouTube.

Starscream
TEAM PWN

Howl

Today Ms. Richey is not here!
This means a very relaxed, chill day here in the class of E-Zine. Obviously if she was here, we would be doing many thought-intensive magazine-related activities, including (but not limited to) designer notebooks and layouts for our magazine. This would also mean that we would learn a lot, and therefore fulfill the overall goal that E-Zine attempts to accomplish. However, since I've already turned in my opinion piece, which addresses the hotly debated topic of CDs vs. MP3s, I can now sit back, do other homework, play the occasional round of Google Image Labeler, and listen to one of my favorite albums online, by a Chicago band called Empires. The CD is called Howl, and basically it is the definition of epic music pwn. Here's a sample from their CD, the song is called "Midnight Land". Check them out at weareempires.com.

Bonecrusher

TEAM PWN

Style Sheet Day!

Welcome to Post #2 on Pure Pwnsauce, the hottest blog on the web! (more or less)

As you can see, we've made some adjustments to the blog's aesthetic side, including the addition of several widgets on the bar to the right. In case you are still a little unsure about the exact meaning of that magical word "pwnsauce", or indeed its pugnacious derivative "pwn", we've provided you with a handy definition over there on the top of our blog to help you better understand some of the more outlandish phrases you will no doubt read as we post more and more. We've also added a blog list, which has a list of blogs that our group deemed at least mildly interesting (if not entirely related to our magazine's subject material), as well as a link list that will take you to a detailed presentation document that explains our e-zine's conceptual aspects.

Another possibly less notable change we've made to our account is the addition of a profile picture! Don't worry if you can't immediately tell what it is - I took the picture in less-than-desirable photographic settings. However, if you look closely at the picture, you should be able to tell that the picture is indeed a glass of

PURE

   PWNSAUCE 

Yes, that's right - the very same stuff that our group secretes in copious amounts every day. I thought that as our profile picture, it would perfectly embody the bold, fearless way in which our magazine pwns all others. (Right about now, you should have a strange feeling of fear creeping down your spine - don't worry, it's just your body's way of responding to the awesome sight of pwnsauce in it's purest form). 

Now that you've recovered from that nerve-rattling experience, I guess I will fill you in on what TEAM PWN has been up to over the past few days. Our best designers (Starscream, Scorponok, and Blackout...essentially the entire team minus Bonecrusher) are working on our Style Sheets, which are basically mock-ups of what various pages in our magazine will look like. They're looking pretty good right now - we've got awesome themes for pull quotes, dingbats, and typefaces. If you aren't familiar with these terms, click here to discover the secrets of being a pwnz0r. Just kidding -  it will take you many years to master those secrets as our group has. That link will merely take you to a page with magazine term definitions on it. Team Pwn apologizes for any extreme disappointment we just caused our readers.

Our magazine is developing very well, and much faster than any of us imagined. It's still a long way for looking anything like a readable e-zine, and we haven't yet converted the text into pwnscript, but trust me we will get there very, very soon.

Bonecrusher

TEAM PWN

Team Pwn: A Brief Description

'Sup?


This is Team Pwn. In essence, we are a group in the Electronic Magazine program at the Liberal Arts and Science Academy in Austin, TX. In other words, we pwn in every meaning of the word.


I bet you're wondering why we call ourselves TEAM PWN - or indeed, why this blog is so oddly titled "Pure Pwnsauce". I'm afraid that we don't quite have a legitimate reason for you, and will tell you honestly that "pwn" is probably the most ridiculous word ever used. However, it is sort of a running joke within our group, this common use of gamers' lingo (e.g. "n00b", "fail", "pwned", etc.). Our frequent use of the word "pwn" will probably drive you crazy the more you read our posts, but truthfully that one word will account for up to 40% of our blog content, so if I were you I would try to get used to it...as best you can.   


Now that we're all on the same page regarding strange word choices, let me tell you a little bit about our group.


Team Pwn, as previously noted, is comprised of a group of students attending LASA highschool. This blog is an aspect of the mandatory freshman course called Electronic Magazine - aka "Ezine." In the class, we are taught the tools that we need to make a magazine, including journalism techniques, design tricks, and internet ediquette. During the length of this semester we will keep you updated on the goings-on of our magazine, among other things (actually, most of the posts will concern the various ways in which we are PWNING n00bs on the LASA campus every day). To waste more of your time I would like to further explain what our magazine is all about.


Our blog's theme is basically online entertainment. This means exactly what it sounds like: video hosting sites like YouTube, illegal pirating, and more higher-thinking and complex topics along those lines. Essentially you will need to oil your cognitive functions if you plan of comprehending any part of our e-zine. No pressure, though; our magazine will be undergoing many changes and revisions and will also be regularly soaked in pwnsauce, so you have until about the end of the semester to get ready to read it.


That's about it for now, we will drop in probably more this week, since the E-Zine class is double-blocked and we have it every day...in fact, you will probably be hearing more from us than you ever wanted to.


On that happy note, we will leave you here to contemplate the many deep thoughts we have no doubt left in your mind.


Bonecrusher (and Scorponok, a little bit)
TEAM PWN