Advantages and Disadvantages of MP3 Technology

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Advantages and Disadvantages of MP3 Technology *Works Cited Not Included

MP3s, a breakthrough in technology or are they just another bomb waiting to explode on us? Some say they are good while others argue that they are not just bad, but horrific to musicians that want to make it to the top. MP3's are used widely by teenagers on their home computer, usually illegally and are constantly being threatened by the producer of the music. Billions of dollars are being lost due to the Internet craze of the MP3 technology mainly because no one is buying the legal music from record stores anymore, its like a style gone dead. Now that the problem is out, Internet police are on the loose to find these illegal distributors of music and put them to a stop. When all the smoke is cleared, it is apparent that the producer of music will have eventual victory over the users in the MP3 battle.

MPEG Audio Layer 3, which is what this anarchic instigator of war file format is known as, but to us it is a MP3 which is a part of the MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 specifications which could be used for movies. MP3's compresses CD-quality sound by a factor of 12 or more while still providing a great high quality sound to it. A MP3 is now becoming mainstream format for music like records, tapes, and CD's which are currently being used, but to play MP3's a program is needed like Winamp or Microsoft's Windows Media Player. The MP3 has become the most commonly used but unofficial file format to encode digital music for downloading off the Internet. The Internet is the heart of the MP3, without it, this new format would never survive because the Net allows surfers to download songs in a matter of minutes without cost or leg...

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...s similar to MusicGuard ™.

It is clear that the MP3 phenomenon will not be going anywhere because this new file format is so attractive to Internet users. The reason for concern over online piracy and MP3's is mainly because recording companies and artists are willing to sit back and let money get taken from their hard work. Recording companies and organizations are ready to take on the problem and fight the MP3 battle by either using the Internet to their advantage or make a way to provide secure digital music on the Internet for a price while washing up illegal web sites that provide them for free. The RIAA and many other companies are putting to work strategies that will straighten out the Internet's back and teach the people that use the Internet the most, in the long end after you pay a hefty fine for infringing copyright laws that crime doesn't pay!

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