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Originally Posted by Good Old Neon
That’s great, really and truly – but I would guess folks such as yourself represent a tiny minority of those who download illegally. Wilco (the band) set up a site website (justafan.org) for folks who came by their CD by way of filesharing – the intent being, rather than purchase a copy, fans would make a donation to Doctors Without Borders. From what I understand, they raised a substantial amount of clams. If more bands and/or labels were to sanction such actions, I’d take a kinder view of file sharers.
The comparison doesn’t quite hold for me. There’s a difference between the natural evolution of a business or business model, and having your livelihood taken away because little Timmy doesn’t feel as though he is obligated to pay folks for their work. Using your example, it would be more like the horse, er, shoer(?) losing his or her job because rather than pay for the shoes, folks just started taking them.
True, but they are also legally entitled to make a living off that art, while being protected from others who would simply take it, or, in some cases, profit from it at their expense.
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You make another real-world analogy that doesn't fit in with the digital age. The problem is little Timmy wouldn't have bought the work anyway, so nothing is lost. If he's like a lot of casual downloaders then he might grab the odd song here and there, not really bothering with albums or any kind of collection. All those songs he could have easily copied down to tape during the 80's from the Top 40 Charts also. And if the horse-shoes were infinite then taking them wouldn't matter. And the model of file-sharing isn't an evolution of business, it's a revolution of people fed up with the status-quo, annoyed by the silly restrictions and the sheer clunkiness of ancient and unworkable copyright models. What I do agree with is that anybody who sells on copyrighted work is to be despised. That's just wrong. Sharing, I believe, only helps creators, palming off someone else's work to make some quick cash helps nobody.