Burnning and Ripping Mp3s, Cds, Etc

[oiccic]

i had been feeling guilty about downloading mp3 of the net, and copying CDs for and from my brother. so i went to confess it at confession. my priest said, though, taht as long as i wasnt trying to sell the music or make some kind of profet, he didnt see anything wrong with it. he did admit to not knowing a lot on the subject, but that was his advice. as far as getting CD at stores, i really don hav ethe money. we are quite poor (i live with my mom who lost her job because of an illness) i do buy a CD eveynow and then, but i rarely have the money. i dont download a lot anymore, and what i get isnt main stream. im not even sure if it can be easly found in a store. so, what would you davice be? if doing those things is really bad, im willing to stop. but i would like some advice. thanks
tom

[dUSt]

If the songs you are downloading or copying are available in store, to purchase, then what you are doing is basically stealing. Being poor is no excuse for theft (trust me, I often tried to justify things in my younger days).

Now, personally, I think that if the songs you are downloading are not available anywhere for sale (ie- out of print, no longer sold at stores), then downloading them off the internet is not theft. But others may argue with that.

Then, there's songs out there that are free and available to download without it being theft. These are songs by independent artists that give you permission, promotional songs, etc, etc. Those are perfectly available to download, and are usually encouraged to be downloaded.

Let your conscience be your guide. If you feel that what you're doing might be wrong, then it probably is.

[oiccic]

im not trying to turn this into open mic, but i still have some questions on burning. DUSt, what u said makes a lot of sence. i only brought up the lack of money because i read something about it on an earlier post in this phorum; i was hoping to learn more on that. also, today i was at confession again. i had hoped to talk to a diffrent priest on the topic, but it was the same one there. none the less i rought it up again. he restated what he had said before, that so long as i wast selling the music i got or made some kind of profit, it was ok. so what should i (we) mak of what he said? thank you
tom

[Pontifex]

God bless you for having a sensitive enough conscience to explore the issue. As far as the priest is concerned, just realize that some of the brothers do not have a good handle on technology or the happenings of the world. I would trust the advice of Catholics who have a good understanding of technology.

Peace to you,

Fr. Pontifex