Senior Project Online Source 5

“Specific Page Title or Article Title”	"The True Cost of Downloading Pirated Music: Who it really affects"
Primary Contributor to the Website (if given) (author, editor, producer, etc)	Kat
Title of the Entire Website (not www. )	Dollarish
Publisher or Sponsoring Organization of the website (if given)	N/A
Date Page was Last Revised	28 March 2010
Date You Read It	14 February 2012
<URL address> (ALL of it)	http://www.dollarish.com/724383448/the-true-cost-of-downloading-pirated-music-who-it-really-affects/

FIVE FACTS FROM THE SOURCE (Embedded):

The author admits to frequently downloading "free music in the past from sites like Limewire, Utorrent and even Napster back in the day" (Kat).

Kat explains that she never considered that music piracy "could really have on the music industry and the economy as a whole" (Kat).

The author believes that "it's the little people who work in the industry offices and recording studios who suffer in the end" as opposed to bands like Metallica that are already wealthy (Kat).

The article also cites an analysis done by the RIAA, concluding that "global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year" (Kat).

Kat also comments on the idea of copying a CD and sharing it with friends as being essentially similar as filesharing, but "the internet allows for such widespread sharing that it is really not a fair comparison" (Kat).

Summary of Source (Three-Four Sentences of the Who, What, Where, Why, and How in your own words. NO OPINION):
Kat pulls together studies and research done by the RIAA, the main music industry devoted to preventing music piracy, to overview the harm of filesharing.  She provides personal experiences as well as hard evidence to connect with the audience.  Kat brings forth the perspective of someone who has been on both sides of this controversial issue.

Credibility of Source:
Author or Site: Who is the author? What training have they had? If there is no author, examine the site. What is the purpose of the site? Who funds the site?
The author of this article is named Kat.  She is a recent college graduate from Gainesville, Florida trying to make a break in the publishing world.

Attachment: Does the author or site have anything to gain from writing this, or is it simply informative? For example, is it a cigarette business posting an article about the benefit of cigarettes, or is it a scientific community unaffiliated with the cigarette business?
Kat is currently trying to become part of the publishing world.  She provides her opinion on a very controversial subject hoping that someone will notice her and recognize her for her work.

Bias: Do you detect a bias (a favoring of either side) in the author's writing?
I detect barely any bias in that she admits to have stolen music illegally off of filesharing websites. She explains the thoughts and mental processes of someone who has pirated music, which provides a counter argument to her opinion.

References: Does the author cite references in the writing? If so, do these add or take away from the credibility?
The author cites an article by the RIAA and statistical studies done by The Institute for Policy Innovation.  These are probably two of the most critical sources in providing a strong argument in music piracy.

Use of Source: How will you use this source in your project? 
I plan to use this source in my project to portray the mindset of someone who has stolen music themself.  I think it will help a lot of people connect with the topic of music piracy.