Jason Hardin's discussion addressed the issues surrounding copyright laws. Before, I didn't really understand copyright laws, only that it gives ownership to someones work. Through the presentation I learned that the copyright holds for the authors life plus 70 years and that the copyright can be given to a company or family member after the original holder passes away. One issue that is growing daily with regards to copyright is the illegal downloading of music and movies. This is an especially big issue on college campuses because college aged kids are the ones who are doing the most downloading, and therefore are being targeted the most by companies to sue. Being a college student, I know that the high price of movies and music, in addition to the ease and convenience of downloading, make it hard not to download music and movies. Hearing the are cases of someone getting sued for over ten grand scares some college students but by no means makes them stop downloading. It is important to consider who is being affected by illegal downloading though. It could be hard to see with big name music and movies, but with underground or upstart artists, downloading their music can mean basically robbing them of significant CD sales. In my opinion, there should be increased government intervention to work to prevent illegal file sharing, because if simply left up to the person who is downloading, it is most likely not going to change. The illegal downloader should also realize that they are not supporting the artist that they are downloading but rather potentially harming them.

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