Forthcoming Leona Lewis tracks leaked onto the net by hackers - 11 views

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  #1 Kathleen Tan on 25 Aug 09

   

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1207707/Forthcoming-Leona-Lewis-tracks-leaked-internet-highest-profile-hacking-case.html
  
  Basically, hackers managed to gain access to unreleased tracks from a famous singer and leak them onto the net for the general public.
  
  I find most hackers interesting, because they behave like online vigilantes. While they could have used the tracks to blackmail the owners of the music into giving them some payoff in return for returning the songs, they choose instead to do the utilitarian thing and release it into the public sphere for everyone's enjoyment.
  
  First of all, it's obvious that while it is unethical of the hackers to have stolen the unreleased tracks and released them onto the net, Could they hackers also be viewed as ethical from the utilitarian point of view?
  
  I fail to see how this leak would harm the earnings of the star or the record company in any way. If anything, this 'leak' could even be an ingenious publicity stunt for the upcoming album! One could also argue that anybody who downloaded the songs illegally now was probably going to download them illegally once they're released anyway. Since only 3 out of 10+ songs from the album were leaked, if these 3 songs were really good, more people would want to buy the album once it's released.
  
  Record companies are claiming that their stars lose millions due to piracy. One could ask: are record companies/stars ethical for earning this much (see several million and counting)? And after earning millions, is there any justification for the crackdown on piracy?

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner"><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1207707/Forthcoming-Leona-Lewis-tracks-leaked-internet-highest-profile-hacking-case.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1207707/Forthcoming-Leona-Lewis-tracks-leaked-internet-highest-profile-hacking-case.html</a> <br /> <br /> Basically, hackers managed to gain access to unreleased tracks from a famous singer and leak them onto the net for the general public. <br /> <br /> I find most hackers interesting, because they behave like online vigilantes. While they could have used the tracks to blackmail the owners of the music into giving them some payoff in return for returning the songs, they choose instead to do the utilitarian thing and release it into the public sphere for everyone's enjoyment. <br /> <br /> First of all, it's obvious that while it is unethical of the hackers to have stolen the unreleased tracks and released them onto the net, Could they hackers also be viewed as ethical from the utilitarian point of view? <br /> <br /> I fail to see how this leak would harm the earnings of the star or the record company in any way. If anything, this 'leak' could even be an ingenious publicity stunt for the upcoming album! One could also argue that anybody who downloaded the songs illegally now was probably going to download them illegally once they're released anyway. Since only 3 out of 10+ songs from the album were leaked, if these 3 songs were really good, more people would want to buy the album once it's released. <br /> <br /> Record companies are claiming that their stars lose millions due to piracy. One could ask: are record companies/stars ethical for earning this much (see several million and counting)? And after earning millions, is there any justification for the crackdown on piracy?</div>

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