Electronic Theft refers to a large variety of crimes involving a computer. The distribution of copyrighted MP3's falls under electronic theft. MP3 stands for MPEG-Audio Layer 3 and it is a fairly new technology for encoding audio files. The MP3 format is used to compress CD music tracks to nearly 1/8 their size with almost no loss in the audio quality. The average CD music file is around 40 megabytes, encoding that track into MP3 format, the file compresses to around 5 megabytes. Because the file is relatively small, you can store your whole music collection on a single hard drive, or it can be distributed over the Internet quickly and easily.

Encoding your own music into MP3 format is not illegal. By your own music I mean either music you created yourself or by encoding CD audio files from a CD that you own. However it is illegal to download and/or distribute MP3 audio files that are copyrighted, or distributed with out the artist's permission. Because of the popularity of the MP3 format and the large amount of people downloading and/or distributing copyrighted MP3's, in 1997 congress approved the No Electronic Theft (NET) Act to fight the distribution of the copyrighted MP3's.

Under the NET Act, reproducing or distributing more then $1,000 of copyrighted material is a misdemeanor with up to one year of jail time and a fine up to $100,000. Reproducing or distributing 10 or more pieces of copyrighted material worth $2,500 or more is a felony with up to three years and jail and a fine of $250,000.

The purpose of this article is not to preach about why MP3's are bad and why you should not use them. Seriously, let's call a spade a spade, most people right now have MP3's on their computer, some of you are probably listening to some right now. Most people probably don't consider it likely that they will get caught downloading copyrighted MP3 files. They are probably right, as the trend in enforcing copyrights and the NET Act is to target companies and larger institutions and universities rather then individuals (according to news.com).

Distributing copyrighted MP3 files is another story. If you distribute copyrighted MP3 materials, it is only a matter of time before you will get caught. The first person arrested under the NET Act was a student at the University of Oregon. The student was hosting a site that not only contained copyrighted MP3's, but other illegal software as well. The student was caught by the unusually high bandwidth usage on his University account. In this case the student admitted to hosting the site, but what if the student had no idea that they were distributing copyrighted material? Read on to learn about Napster.

Name: long john silver
Comments:
That is strange I always refered to it as a student discount.

Name: jeff
Comments:
ok, who let her on here? :)

Name: Katie(Jeff davis's little sis)
Year: junior
Major: n/a
Comments:
Hasn't everybody at some point in their life made a mix tape or recorded a cd onto a tape? Is that illegal? Has anyone ever been caught for making a harmless mix tape? I certainly hope not. If so, this world is not getting any better. Dont even get me started on all these "how to be a millionaire" shows! Aren't they all basically the same thing?! Isn't that bootlegging?!?! If you have been for some odd reason arrested for making a mix tape, share ur stories w/ me. i want to know. Ladibuge@aol.com

Comments:
In part, I agre with this article. I don't think that law enforcement agencies are only seeking out larger companies though. I really feel that they're after me. Just me. Everyone's out to get me. We're all going to die!! Get out while you still can! Big brother is after your hotelcalifornia.mp3!!!! Run!!!