Morality and downloading

[Thumpalumpacus]

Because it is taking the product of someone's labor without compensating them for it.

And why is this unethical?  What is it that gives the creator of a collection of ideas or sounds the right to tell others what to do with them after they have been released into the public sphere?

Well, "rights" are a matter of law, not ethics, but since you asked, the copyright laws extant here and elsewhere give artists the right to determine usage by selling licenses.

But the reason why taking their output without compensation is unethical is because you're depriving them of the ability to benefit from their own labors.

I'd contend that particularly with very popular music, enough is enough.  Metallica, for example, isn't just a bunch of guys trying to sell new songs-- they are a part of American history and culture, and their names will be writ large long after they are dead and gone.  Am I really going to go to hell because I downloaded albums I've already bought several times along with a couple I've never bought?

Ah, so it is okay to steal from someone based on what they already have? I disagree, and I suspect you do, too.  After all, by your logic, a homeless person is perfectly entitled to the contents of your wallet based on the fact that you will still live, and you are better-off than he is. You have food and a car and a comfortable home. You have no reason to complain when he robs you, right?

As for downloading albums you've already bought, I've got no problem with that.  Indeed, I think that if the medium of the CD/LP/cassette is damaged, then the buyer should be entitled to a free replacement, because what has been bought was a license.

You are not considering the balance of rights and fair use.  For example, don't people have a right to share their own experiences, even when those experiences involve the intellectual products of others?  If I have a video of my teenage self thrashing to Metallica when I still had long hair, should Youtube unplug the audio because Metallica's lawyers' lawyers' minions are pissed that I didn't arrange a license?

That depends.  Did you arrange permission to use their music in your money-making venture? Or do you not sell ad-space on your channel? If you are using their music for personal gain without permission and are not paying royalty, their lawyers may have a case.  But -- I don't believe you'll be going to Hell.  

I'm only mentioning the law because you insist on bringing it into the discussion. My point was based on the ethics of taking from another person the right to make a living with the products of their own labor. Copyright laws are in place because that principle is widely accepted.

I think that just because someone has been successful doing so doesn't mean that their product should thenceforth be regarded as public domain. Robin Hood was a fairy tale. People who illegally download invoke mega-successful acts as if that changes the nature of their pirating, but it doesn't. Whether the guy you stick up is rich or poor, you're still committing robbery.