The recording industry is fighting a losing battle: it simply does not

Question

The recording industry is fighting a losing battle: it simply does not have the resources to prosecute all of the individuals who illegally download music from the Internet. Because the number of individuals who will be charged with a crime is so limited, the actions of the recording industry will have a minimal impact on the number of people who illegally download music.

The answer to which of the following questions would best help evaluate the accuracy of the conclusion above?

(A) Will recording industry lawyers dedicate the majority of their time to prosecuting those who illegally download music?

(B) Is a small minority of individuals responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads?

(C) Do many individuals who illegally download songs share their music files with other Internet users?

(D) Will new Internet security technology permit the recording industry to more quickly and easily identify individuals who illegally download music?

(E) Will the threat of prosecution alter the behavior of those who illegally download music?

This question is part of the  GMAT Club Critical Reasoning : Evaluate" Revision Project.

plumber250 · Accepted Answer

Hi - The question is about the number of PEOPLE not the number of SONGS downloaded.

B suggests that by targetting a few people you could affect the number of SONGS dowloaded. But not whether you could affect the number of PEOPLE downloading.

In other terms, it's like saying most thieves only steal one thing and a few thieves steal lots. By arresting the thieves who steal a lot you can reduce a lot the number of crimes, but still the majority of people who have commited at least one crime are still free....

IanStewart · Answer

This is a very subtle question - if you don't read the wording extremely carefully, it's easy to be tempted by a few of the answer choices. The key point to notice here is that we are concerned with "the **number of people** who illegally download music." We are *not* concerned with the number of illegal downloads.

Looking at the answer choices, A and D are irrelevant, since they are not related to the issue in the stem: that only a small number of people can be prosecuted. B and C are both relevant to the question of whether prosecutions might reduce the number of *downloads*, but that isn't our question: we want to reduce the number of *downloaders*. E is the correct answer. If the threat of prosecution might discourage people from downloading, then the number of downloaders might fall even if only a few people can be prosecuted.

Bunuel · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

The argument concludes that the prosecution of a small number of people who download music illegally will have a minimal impact on the overall number of people who engage in illegal downloading. The correct answer must relate specifically to this issue and provide additional insight as to whether it seems reasonable.

(A) One premise of the argument states that the recording industry does not have the resources to prosecute all individuals who download music illegally, while a second premise states the number of people who will be charged with a crime is limited. These statements indicate that the legal resources of the recording industry are too limited to have a major impact on the overall number of people who engage in illegal downloading, no matter how these lawyers dedicate their time.

(B) If a small minority of individuals were responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads, the actions of the recording industry could have a significant impact on the number of downloaded songs. The conclusion of the argument, however, was about the number of people who download songs illegally; this number would remain unaffected.

(C) Whether songs are downloaded illegally and then shared with other Internet users is not relevant to the conclusion.

(D) Similar to answer choice A, this choice is limited by the premises of the argument. If new Internet security technology permits the recording industry to more quickly and easily identify individuals who illegally download music, then the recording industry will know who is breaking the law. However, the lack of industry resources still restricts the industry’s ability to prosecute a large number of people, even if they are identified as individuals who illegally download music.

(E) CORRECT.  The argument concludes that the prosecution of a small number of people who download music illegally will have a minimal impact on the overall number of people who engage in illegal downloading. However, if the threat of prosecution were enough to “alter the behavior” of others (i.e., deter them from illegally downloading music), the actions of the recording industry could have a significant impact on the number of people who illegally download music.

leonidas · Answer

I picked (B) which is incorrect according to MGMAT. OA is (E). 
Here is my explanation:
On the exam day, I would have picked (B) because: If small minority of individuals are responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads and these individuals are charged, then the actions of the recording industry will have a significant impact on the number of people who illegally download music. This actually affectcs the accuracy of the conclusion which states that- the prosecution of a small number of people who download music illegally will have a minimal impact on the overall number of people who engage in illegal downloading.

Here is the official explanation from MGMAT:
(E) CORRECT. The argument concludes that the prosecution of a small number of people who download music illegally will have a minimal impact on the overall number of people who engage in illegal downloading. However, if the threat of prosecution were enough to “alter the behavior” of others (i.e., deter them from illegally downloading music), the actions of the recording industry could have a significant impact on the number of people who illegally download music.

icandy · Answer

I agree that this Q is a little bit tricky. I guess the reason why MGMAT chose to drop B is because,  we dont know whether the resources are enough to sue them (who knows) and also some other small group else might do it again, if they dont feel the threat.  The point I guess is will it make a threat or not. Again, we can talk about both of them and to me B was correct to start with. B says majority of the illegal downloads can be attributed to a small group and suing them can definitely have a positive impact and reduce the illegal downloads.

nimrod · Answer

E for me...
For evaluate the conclusion questions follow the approach given by the CR bible...
Scan the options first...
A and D are out because they are out of scope....
Now for the remaining choices, take a yes and no as the answer to the question and check whether " answer yes" is strengthening the conclusion and "Answer No" is weakening the conclusion or vice versa...

We can eliminate B and C through the above process...
For E..

Answer Yes: It will alter the behaviour of the individuals
Answer No: It will not alter the behavior of the individuals

Yes weakens the conclusion and No strengthens the conclusion... Thus this is our option....

Marcab · Answer

Hii plumber250.
Consider an example:
Let there be only 50 downloaders who download majority of illegal music. If you punish 40 out of those, 10 downloaders remain. Hence illegal downloading can be reduced to a huge extent.
Now let there be 50,000 downloaders but only 40 of them are punished. Illegal downloading still persists.
That's my point.

plumber250 · Answer

Hi,

With your example you are correct. However that is not what B is offering to tell us.

B simply tells us whether the quantity of dowloading is divided equally amongst every downloader or it is skewed. It tells us nothing about the total number.

So (to use small numbers) it would tell us amongst 10 dowloaders if the distribution is more like:

1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 20, 22

or
5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5

But that doesn't matter if the question is asking about the number of downloaders, in both situations there are 10. And to arrest (say) 2 in either situation still leaves 8 out there

DudeYou · Answer

A. Will recording industry lawyers dedicate the majority of their time to prosecuting those who illegally download music?
I don't care about lawyers time -- OUT

B. Is a small minority of individuals responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads?
May be....Hold it...will come back

C. Do many individuals who illegally download songs share their music files with other Internet users?
Don't care what folks do after downloading music - OUT

D. Will new Internet security technology permit the recording industry to more quickly and easily identify individuals who illegally download music?
What will they do after identifying those guys...that not what the argument is about -- OUT

E. Will the threat of prosecution alter the behavior of those who illegally download music?
If I see my neighbor being prosecuted for downloading 50 shades of gray...I will be **** scared to download any movie -- I like it...but let me look at choice B again --- Its not as good as E ..Done E it is

BassanioGratiano · Answer

The recording industry is fighting a losing battle:  it simply does not have the resources to prosecute all of the individuals who illegally download music  from the Internet. Because the number of individuals who will be charged with a crime is so limited, the actions of the recording industry will have a minimal impact on the number of people who illegally download music. The answer to which of the following questions would best help evaluate the accuracy of the conclusion above?

A. Will recording industry lawyers dedicate the majority of their time to prosecuting those who illegally download music?
 It's already stated that there are not enough resources to prosecute everyone who illegally downloads music. It's already implied that if the lawyers did reach the maximum time to prosecute illegal downloading there just aren't enough resources.

B. Is a small minority of individuals responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads?
 If it is a small minority the recording industry still does not have the resources to take them down.

C. Do many individuals who illegally download songs share their music files with other Internet users?
 Irrelevant. We are only concerned with the individuals who illegally download music, not the ones who share their music files.

D. Will new Internet security technology permit the recording industry to more quickly and easily identify individuals who illegally download music?
 Identifying all the individuals does not mean that the recording industry still has the resources to prosecute the individuals. Remember, we are only concerned with prosecuting, not finding.

E. Will the threat of prosecution alter the behavior of those who illegally download music?
 If illegal downloaders take the threat seriously they may stop downloading thus there are a lot less people for the recording companies to prosecute.

abhishekdadarwal2009 · Answer

A. Will recording industry lawyers dedicate the majority of their time to prosecuting those who illegally download music?
 The actions of the lawyers of the music industry are irrelevant and does not explain the current situation.

B. Is a small minority of individuals responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads?
 The is a good option but the question talks about the leagal action not finding all of the people who are responsibel for the act.

C. Do many individuals who illegally download songs share their music files with other Internet users?
 this infomation is out of scope and have a little impact on the argument that catching those who share music would reduce the offenders but it does not address the legal activity to prosecute those who are offenders.

D. Will new Internet security technology permit the recording industry to more quickly and easily identify individuals who illegally download music?
 the new internet security technology is out of scope and not disccussed in the above argument.

E. Will the threat of prosecution alter the behavior of those who illegally download music?
 The important question is weather after some people are prosecute will the rest of the people who downlaod music illigally be demotivated to download music illegally.if they are demoralized then the law will succeed in reducing the number of people who download music.But if the behaviour of the offenders is not alterd then the sole purpose of leagal action would be defeated therfor the correct answer choice.

anairamitch1804 · Answer

Conclusion of the argument is “actions(prosecute downloaders) of the recording industry will have a minimal impact on the number of people who illegally download music”

We need to find out answer to which of the questions will help us evaluate the accuracy of the conclusion.

(C) Let say “Yes. Many individuals who illegally download will share the files”. Does this helps the argument. It is just mentioned that industry will prosecute downloaders. Not all the people who have the files”.So still we cannot say whether impact will be more. two groups: direct downloaders and indirect downloaders (who don’t directly
downloads, but somehow get the downloaded music from someone else). The premise talks about only direct downloader – the music industry doesn’t have the
resources to prosecute all of the direct downloaders. Even if there is another group “indirect downloaders”, that is not the issue of discussion. his answer choice says indirect downloaders get the files from direct downloaders. But so what? How does this information help me to evaluate whether the action of the recording industry would have minimal impact on direct downloaders?

(E) Let say “Yes. The threat of prosecution would alter the behavior of downloaders”. Then the number of illegal download will come down. Then it is likely to cause increase in revenue for industry. Hence more impact. Let say “No. The threat of prosecution would not alter the behavior of downloaders”. Then the number of illegal download will not come down. Then it is not likely to cause increase in revenue for industry. Hence minimal impact as expected. choice talks about only direct downloaders. Say, now there are 100 direct downloaders but recording industry is able to prosecute only 60 of them. If the industry charges crime against those 60 downloader and that action impacts
remaining 40, then definitely this action would have more than “minimal impact”. Hence this answer choice is correct.

Mavisdu1017 · Answer

IanStewart Sorry expert I don’t agree with your explanation. If a small minority of individuals responsible for the majority illegal case, and exactly these minority of individuals are sued and charged (as the passage says the number of individuals who will be charged with a crime is so limite), it will have a significant impact (but not minimal impact) on the number of people who downloaded illegally. This ideed addresses to the the number of people but not the the number of downloads. Mind to explain further? Thanks

IanStewart · Answer

I agree that charging the minority who do most of the downloading could have a significant effect on the amount of downloading. But I don't follow why you conclude that will have a significant impact on the number of people downloading.

If there are 100 people who download illegally, and 1 person is responsible for 90% of the illegal downloads, and the other 99 people are only responsible for 10%, then if you charge that 1 person, you'll reduce the amount of illegal downloading by 90%. But you'll only reduce the number of downloaders by 1%, because the other 99 people will still be downloading, and it's the number of downloaders the question asks about (here I'm assuming that the person stops downloading if they're prosecuted).

edit: fixed a typo (I wrote "affect" instead of "effect")

krndatta · Answer

AndrewN

I read your earlier thread of sticking to the official questions.
But since I was so engrossed in this one too that I couldn't resist to ask.

I want you to share your reasoning for options B and C. Both seem a fine choice to me.
My reasoning is below. May be you can evaluate the same and share your two cents.

Option B:-
Variance Test:-
Yes, a small number is responsible for the majority of illegal song downloads, then doesn't this weaken the claim that the recording industry won't have a minimal impact.
On the other hand, if we take a No a small minority is not responsible but a larger majority is responsible then the impact will be minimal.

Option C:-
Yes, many individuals who download music share their files with other internet users then the impact won't be minimal, but if they don't share then the impact would be minimal.

Both are looking correct answers to me

Please evaluate where am I going wrong.

AndrewN · Answer

Hello,  krndatta . I am satisfied with the responses provided above by  IanStewart  and   Bunuel  , not to mention others by non-Experts that touch on how (B) and (C) focus on downloads, rather than on  the number of people who illegally download music , per the argument. You may want to study these types of answer choices that invoke quantitative measures— a small minority ,  the majority ,  many , and so on—so that you can see just how frequently GMAC™ likes to pull the wool over our eyes. Bottom line: if the content of an answer choice is something other than what a conclusion may touch on, then that answer choice is most likely off-topic. (Again, you still have to think matters through.)

- Andrew

IN2MBB2PE · Answer

AndrewN  /  IanStewart  - How to identify the   of this argument.

I identified the  : the actions of the recording industry will have a minimal impact on the number of people who illegally download music.

But it seems to be an "intermediate  , given it supports the main  : The recording industry is fighting a losing battle

Please correct me. I got this question correct by identifying that the " the actions of the recording industry will have a minimal impact on the number of people who illegally download music" is the main   but I am not convinced if that is the case ....

IanStewart · Answer

I think you're right -- the main conclusion of the argument is really "the industry is fighting a losing battle", but the answer choices address the intermediate conclusion about "the number of people" downloading music. So it really should be more carefully worded, to make it clear just exactly what conclusion we're meant to evaluate. It's a prep company question, and while I'd say it's a genuinely useful practice question (unlike most prep company Verbal questions, which aren't even worth looking at), it isn't as careful about structure as an official question would be.

testtango · Answer

IanStewart AndrewN sir, I understand why B is the correct choice but in E I am confused regarding the usage of "alter the behaviour", I mean we don't know how will threat of prosecution "alter" ? like in a positive or negative manner. what if these downloaders gets more notorious and even starts downloading more or expands their community? In that case this choice will fall apart. Had it been given that surely threat of prosecution will make these downloaders NOT download anymore then it would have made perfect sense without any confusion.

Any thoughts?

Any thoughts?

The recording industry is fighting a losing battle: it simply does not

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