4B
TAKING ADVANTAGE
The ethical category of taking unfair advantage is one in which one party has a superior bargaining, knowledge, information, or power position and uses it to cause the other side to lose something in the process. Sometimes parties take advantage of others just by their philanthropic position. Their goodness in cause is used to justify unfairness in treatment.

CASE 4.9
The Ethics of Peer-to-Peer File Sharing
Peer-to-peer file sharing came about through the efforts of Shawn Fanning and his Napster website and programs. Napster website program user could free of charge, download recoding via the Internet through process known as ripping, which is the downloading of digital MP3 files. When technology afforded a quality and fast recording, the customers responded with widespread use of the system.
When the music writers, produers, and artists became aware of the Napster system the companies filed copyright Infrigement suits against Napster. Mike Stoller, a song writer also filed suit against Napster and wrote in an oponion piece for New York Times:
I fear for the 17 year old songwriter looking forward to a career in the music business today.
Napster and companies like it aren’t only thretening my retirement, but the future musicit self.
By taking incentive out of songwriting, Napster may be pushing it self closer to a time when there won’t be any songs for its users to swap.
The controversy over Napster created fierce media and congressional battles among and between artists, fans, and music companies. Recording artists and record companies called peer-to-peer file sharing nothing more than copyright infringement. “It’s a technology no one anticipated and the law doesn’t apply” was observation of one legal expert.
Other artists were busily establishing Internet strategies. Lance bass, of the teen band “N Sync, developed strategies for digital music. By participating in teen chat room, Bass learns wich songs his fans take a liking to and has been selling his song over the Internet. He makes about $1 per CD sold because the record companies have monopolies on distribution and spend large amounts on marketing.
Napster filed suit against by using trademark without authorization for infringement, seeking an injunction as well as damages. When the record companies filed filed suit against Napster, the district court granted a preliminary injunction to the plaintiffs enjoining Napster from “engaging in, or facilitating others in copying, downloading, uploading, transmitting, or distributing plaintiffs copyrighted musical compositions and sound recordings, protected by either federal or state law, without express permission of the rights owner”. Napster was eventually shut down by federal court. Several interim steps were taken as the companies tried to get their songs deregistered.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIIA) began an aggressive enforcement policy of filling suit against those who are engaged in significant amounts of downloading. These individual have resulted in settlements.
Under the deal, the students have unlimited rights to listen to music on up to there personal computers as long as they are still students Penn State. If they want to download the songs, it will cost $0,99 per song. The university will pay for the Napster service out of the $160 technology fee the students pay each year.