Self titled debut post

Coming up with the appropriate title is always the hardest thing for me.

I went 11-3 in the NFL picks this week. If gambling were only that easy.

A debate arose on the message boards of Allhiphop.com today about the merits of file sharing, or for those without a computer, bootlegging. (I've lived in Cleveland all my life and downtown for a couple months and have never seen anyone bootlegging tapes on the street.) The argument against went like, if you really love the music and want to support the artist then you won't bootleg because it takes money out of the pockets of the artist.

One might counter by saying that none of the artists are starving and that any money they might lose would only be spent on rims or homes or jewelry. But there are those artists who haven't made it big, these artists are usually the ones who end up getting bootlegged the most. Some times its easier to find an underground album on the internet than it is to find in a major record store.

Yet, i still don't see the merits in throwing people in jail for file sharing. Artists talk about the money that is coming out of their pocket when the biggest thief is the record label themselves. All of the execs are getting rich while hardly any of the artists are.

Anyways, I think the problem is overstated by the record companies. I would say that most people who download, download songs that they never intended to purchase, mostly singles that are played on the radio or older popular songs that you don't want to pay for an entire CD for. Other people who might download a whole CD might download it to hear it and then go out and buy it later. I'm sure some people hear the downloaded album and hate it or download it, love it and never go out and buy it. But damn if the quality of burned CD's doesn't suck.

This doesn't even get into intellectual property law, which i know nothing about. But i do know that there is a debate in IP law on the subject of file sharing, so it is not a settled issue. I say go out and swap files, its not stealing. Hell its not even like its going on for a commercial purpose. Its just like the public library without the pervs on the computers looking at porn.

Another topic
The most interesting thing about this whole blog thing is reading what other people have to say. There is a button in the upper right hand corner of this page, "Next Blog >>>>>", which allows you to click to another random blog.

Its strange and interesting that by clicking that button you get a small glimpse into people's lives. Some of the stuff that you come upon is equally fascinating and frightening. There's a lot of Republican blogs praising the war and the killing of Iraqis, some porn blogs, religious and atheist blogs, i found one blog of a 16 yr. old kid from Minnesota who was a white supremacist(sickening really), one blog of a high schooler who's father is an alcoholic. Truly amazing the spectrum of people's lives.