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MOTIVATOR                        Every day millions of kids commit theft in broad daylight. Their parents don't care. They're stealing, too, or asking Junior to do it for them. 

TRANSITION            Almost everyone does it. No one tries to hide it. And no one calls it stealing. People who wouldn't shoplift a stick of gum or take more than one newspaper from a street rack think nothing of stealing music. 

OPPOSITION            Millions of people download music from the Internet. They believe that the artists and musicians make so much money that it doesn’t matter if they download music from the Internet.

REVERSAL                However, they are wrong.  It is stealing.

POSITION                  Stealing music is the same as stealing anything else. It is illegal and the consequences are real, for you, and for the music industry.

THESIS                       Internet theft is destroying the music industry, robbing musicians, recording companies and retail stores of profits and destroying our creative future.

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Define Key Terms/ Provide Background

The downloading of music from the Internet really exploded when the MP3 format became available. MP3 is a technology that makes music files very small. This compression lets us download a song in only minutes, instead of hours (What’s The Download). Broadband Internet access, such as cable or DSL, makes the download time even quicker. Because the files aren't big, we can store hundreds of songs on our computers without filling up our hard drives. MP3 files can also be played on devices other than computers, such as a portable MP3 player. Some phone companies are even developing the technology so that we can play songs on our cell phones. Because of the impact that downloading has had on the music industry, the trade group that represents the biggest record companies, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), has begun to bring lawsuits against people who illegally download and swap music files on the Internet.