[rhombus]

My problem is that the music industry is so late to the digital party that they’ve missed an opportunity to come up with a way for people to do it legally. Instead, they’ll just create a lot of ill will with consumers with lawsuits and the refusal to allow people to listen to music however they want to.

Exactly. When I want a song or an album, I should be able to go online to the music industry's site and download an mp3 file for a price... without having to join a club, without having all sorts of restrictions on how many times I can play the file, what format the file is in, etc, etc, etc. 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.

[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.

[ApplegateRanch]

Once upon a time, I downloaded from Napster.

Not because it was ‘free’;

Not becuase it was ‘faster’;

it was because the record companies had what I wanted locked away in their vaults, and REFUSED to reissue it to make it available, either because of “no market”; or, in many cases, it was soooo politically incorrect.