Quote:
Originally Posted by rkomar
Young people with little money have been taping, dubbing, ripping and now downloading music for many decades, yet somehow they turn into adults that pay for music. I don't think that piracy is as habit-forming as you think.
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Of course taping and ripping music are quite legal and thus not piracy. That particular legal argument was settled back in the early 80's. (the Betamax case, or Sony verse Universal City Studio).
As to your greater argument, that downloading and trading copies of music have been around for a long time and are technically piracy, you are right. I'm one of those guys who likes to own his digital content (music, movies and books), so I buy and always have. Some people grow out of pirating, some never do. For that matter, I know a few professional musicians who are pretty loose in that regard.
I think that a bigger point to be made is that piracy tends to be a mind set thing. I buy because I'm greedy. I want more and more. But I'm not going to get more unless authors continue to write and musicians continue to perform. The only way they can do that is by making enough money to make a living. As long as we keep reminding people of the ramifications of piracy, then we combat that mindset.