[pray4liberty]

I'm convinced that most people download - not because they want to steal something or get it free but because it's just easier to get the music quicker.

Walmart.com offers downloadable music. You buy the license, and you are restricted to playing it on one computer (won't work on others) and if you have a Phillips mp3 player (also sold by Walmart) you can transfer the .WMA file and still enjoy what you bought. The downside is that they are not IPOD compatible.

If you lose your music, due to hard drive crash, you download it again and call them to reactivate the license.

This system, while it has severe limits, affords their users some protection against accusations of piracy from the music industry.

[rhombus]

What you described still sounds pretty complicated. I don’t have an Ipod I play mp3s on my PocketPC-based pda.

So when I buy a CD and “rip” it into mp3s... is that breaking the law too?

[Knitebane]

This system, while it has severe limits,

And there is the problem right there.

Why put up with such a system if one can just rip a CD or download an unrestricted copy?