sprocket

Well, let the file swapping continue I say. You have safety in numbers. They've filed about a thousand lawsuits and there are how many millions of file swappers out there? Three, four, mabye over five million? Its like an exterminator going into a yard infested with ants and trying to take them out 1 at a time with a toothpick. The news coverage has blown it out of proportion, doing the RIAA's handywork by scaring people away from file swapping with what amounts to removing a drop from the bucket. And thats really all they hope to do with these lawsuits; scare enough gullible people into thinking they are the next RIAA target.

One of the points that people miss in this whole saga, is that the RIAA is trying to stop independant music distribution. The internet brings about a new and promising avenue for independant artists to get their music to a broad audience. The major labels, once being the only medium for an artist to have widespread music distribution, now have competition. They are becoming a useless thirdwheel in the artist/consumer relationship. They are simultaneously trying to kill internet radio, buy up or control all the legal online music services (Universal destroyed emusic.com, the ONLY decent music service that has ever existed IMHO), create laws to restrict technology without regard to what it will do to other industries or our freedom... all to make sure they have the stranglehold over music distribution in the digital world. Sorry, I'll give my money to the artists, not those assholes.

So keep on swapping and dont let the bully full of empty threats scare you. Theres still no end in sight to online swapping.

Just for the record, my primary source of mp3's used to be emusic.com; a legal online music service. That is until universal bought it and basicly turned it into a another crappy itunes copycat with a couple slight variations.

__________________
Remember, wherever you go... there you are.