John Stason (sp?) on 20/20 decided to do a "Give Me a Break" segment on file sharing. Besides highlighting the fact that the RIAA is suing college students for posting file sharing sites, he tried to compare file sharing to earlier technology. There was radio, and supposedly stations were loath to have listeners hear music for free. Then there was the advent of the VCR, and they tried to curb that, too, saying copying stuff off TV would be a breach of copyright or something like that. I think probably the blank compact cassette tape was a real threat-- people could now copy commercial music much more easily. But here's the real rub. With radio and television, you have to worry about commericals, especially with television. So I don't think that was the worry (and I think the segment said the lawsuit was against Blockbuster, which was dropped anyway, implying that folks were copying VHS tapes). File to file is just another ballgame-- the music is direct and fast with the technology. Search time is quick and fast. Copy time can be quick and fast, depending on connection. This is restating the obvious, of course, but it's just much different than anything before it. It is said with iTunes that the selection is more limited than with regular file sharing. Granted, the audio quality is better, but I am willing to venture that the average user is not going to care that much. Files around 128kbps in quality and just a little above will probably do for a lot of people.0 responses total.
You have several choices: