I've mentioned to you guys before that if someone comments on our Facebook and they haven't liked the page, the comments don't show up on the page, but only go to a messages folder.

Well, it turns out that my blog on illegal downloading hit a nerve and I received responses from all over. Also, the band Mastodon (and others) have shared my blog, so it's pretty apparent that it's on target.

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The short version is this: Internet trolls want to provide every possible dodge and every possible excuse for illegally downloading music. I'd like to address some of this now.

"The record companies are making record profits." Nope, sorry, shut up. You made that up.

I've had dozens of friends and know of hundreds if not thousands of layoffs. I used to have to bring two armloads of new releases from the record companies back to my office every day. Now, I get a half dozen emails and two or three packages per week. There used to be a dozen new artists a week that would come across my desk. Now it's just a couple.

"You haven't proven that other costs have gone up because of stealing." Well, I have a blog out on the t-shirts, but I don't care if you believe me or not.

I work in this industry, I know the agreements and I've talked to the bands. As mentioned in my article on the high cost of t-shirts, I can get actual artists on the phone who will tell you that ALL of their money comes from merch sales (and none from albums or even concert tickets).

"Copying/file sharing isn't the same as stealing." Yes, it is. You can use word play all you want. It's great technology has allowed you different verbiage, but when an artist says 'I want $1 for a download/copy' and you do it for free, you stole. You are a thief. Just deal with it; try to be a better person and move on.

"The music isn't that good anymore so I shouldn't have to pay for it." Well, if it's "not that good," then leave it the hell alone and don't steal it. I've never walked into a supermarket and stole rotten grapes. The only grapes that get stolen are the ones that are good.

"Lars must be crying at all that money he lost." First off, to blame this on Metallica is to show that you have zero depth of knowledge on the subject. Second, who the hell are you to decide how much a band or person should make? You're the same a--sholes that would scream "socialism" in any other circumstance.

You're not Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. You're just trying to justify your petty theft in your mind. In fairness, the original article said "Metallica was right" but it didn't say "Metallica was responsible."

"The record company did this to themselves because they didn't recognize people wanted to file share." Yep, great excuse for the year 2000. It's now 2014. They are now giving you music your way for a fraction of what it used to cost. Your excuse is no longer valid. If you think that's too expensive, don't buy it and they'll eventually get the message.

"This is stupid. You can't 'own' music." Seriously, get on the short bus and get to school. You can own an idea. For instance: 'this is how a computer should work.' So yes, you can "own" music. It doesn't appear out of thin-air; it has to be created and the creators have to eat.

Photographers have their rights, too. Even when they are taking a picture of something somebody else created. Yes, we are paying a rights fee for the very picture that accompanies this blog.

All of these points commit great logical fallacies that I'm not going to bother to pick apart further. They are opinions that come from self-entitled people who don't want to know that there are consequences for their actions. They are all excuses.

We have all downloaded music illegally. I've even used the excuse that 'I bought it before.' None of that is valid. Nobody is innocent.

Once upon a time, we all thought that stoning witches was okay, but we learned it wasn't. Now, we need to learn that illegal downloading is wrong. That's why it's called illegal. We also must recognize that if we want to support our favorite bands we need to buy concert tickets, t-shirts and other merch to keep them going.

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