Quote:
Originally Posted by necropimp
when pirate music i do so by dressing as a pirate, storming into a music store, grabbing the CDs, and making an impressive escape by jumping on the back of a cannon and rolling away
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I'd be in favor of music piracy if it required that bravado. The problem is Kazaa is too banal.
I'm a wimp...I download all my stuff off of iTunes.
EDIT: It does not follow that excessive punishment means that a criminal activity is justified. You can argue that the punishment for piracy is too severe, but it is another thing entirely to argue that piracy is okay.
The author of the article the OP links to does not believe piracy is wrong. I think this stance undermines his argument. If music fans said "We understand that music piracy is illegal, we respect the law, but punishment for breaking the law is too severe" they may have a reasonable grievance. However, as long as many music fans continue to deny people's property rights they just appear to be disaffected teenagers to most jurists. Ultimately, jurors want their property protected too, and they aren't going to side with people that they think secretly want to undermine their rights.
Having said all this, I don't think the music companies can win this battle. I think their property rights should be protected, but I think efforts to do so will prove futile. No Congressman wants to arrest a plurality of his or her constituents. The best outcome would be a truce where music fans and record labels recognize each others right to exist. If they don't, both sides will ultimately be worse off. Record labels need customers, and customers need record labels incentivized to produce/discover new music.