Just because you can, doesn't mean you should

"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should" is a mentality everyone needs to have when faced with a situation dealing with media sharing. New technological advancements have made it easier and more convenient to share media. Where once you had to physically borrow a CD or movie in order to enjoy it without purchasing it yourself, now your friend can make a copy for you. In fact, they could make you a copy and then you could make your own copies and send them to other friends. Even more convenient, you don't even have to make a physical copy; you can just send it over the web in digital form. It sounds like a great way to share your favorite song or movie. However, someone worked hard to produce that media and is relying on people buying the CD or movie in order to cover costs of production. It isn't fair to them if only one in ten people who enjoy their creation actually purchased it. On the other hand, you purchased the CD and believe you have a right to share it with friends. This is a dilemma that faces society. Orson Scott Card offers the following solution, in MP3's are not the Devil: ". . .educate people that it's OK to let people hear a sample, but don't give away whole albums of work you didn't create. This is not a hard concept; people would get it." So, yes, you could make numerous copies of a purchased CD and hand them out like candy, but you shouldn't. Instead, send samples from the CD to interested friends and let them make the decision on whether they want to be content with the sample or purchase the entire CD.