[golgi body]

I've only read through a few pages here and there from this thread, but wanted to share my view on a few things. First, Bob is right about pretty much everything covered on this topic. Second, I'll fully admit that I used to be a thief. I was a junior or senior in high school when Napster first came to fruition. It was pretty fucking awesome to all of a sudden be able to have just about any song you wanted at your convenience. It's almost hard to imagine the days when I had to go to my shitty record store to find out they still didn't have the new Nada Surf album (yeah that's right I liked them, "High/Low" was a great album). Shit, my brother camped out to get Pear Jam's "Vs." back in 1993. But that's besides the point.

I used to download a lot of shit, especially when I was in college. The weird thing is I'd download shit I didn't even want, just because it was there. I still to this day (9 years later) have never watched my copy of "Josie and the Pussycats" (don't know what I was thinking when I grabbed that one). Anyway, about 3 or 4 years I've stopped being a thief, partly because I didn't want to get caught, but mainly for the following reasons:

1. I got back into recording music and started frequenting sites like Gearslutz.com where a lot of members actually work in the music business as recording/mixing/mastering engineers, producers, and artists (they even have some real bigshots over there, e.g. right now there's a Q&A with Butch Vig (producer on Siamese Dream and Nevermind just to name a few)). You get a much better perspective on the topic of music piracy and the RIAA over there than you do on DIGG and Torrentfreak.
   
   
2. I got really turned off by the politics of this pirate generation. Most of them are children and the rest are people with a really warped sense of reality (similar to people who think Communism can work). When you're so disgusted by a group and their actions, it's easy to eliminate those actions from your life. And let's get something straight, pirates aren't only ripping off the RIAA and MPAA. They steal shit from small independent artists and movie houses too.
   
   
3. I work in a field that doesn't physically produce anything of value. Instead, my colleagues provide intellectual services and 'discover things'. I believe that our services have value and expect to be compensated for them. It bothers me that people out there that actually produce things may not be compensated simply because their work is easily obtained, copied, and distributed.
   
   
4. With Amazon, Itunes, Xbox Live marketplace, Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, LastFM, TV channel websites (e.g. NBC, TBS, Cartoon Network), and your local library, there are plenty avenues to obtain free or discounted media. Piracy is no longer necessary to obtain music or video that you want.
   
   
5. I grew up and didn't want to be a piece of shit anymore (this is still up for debate though)

Originally Posted by yoav

i'm not a thief either as you cannot steal something which has no value, ie: a digital copy.

Why does a digital copy have no value? If there is a desire/demand for something, then that something has value. Perhaps this stupid hypothetical situation will convince you (probably not but I'm still going to type it).

First, let's assume that the age of file sharing does not exist and music can only be acquired through means of CD sales. Second, assume that company XYZ has invested a lot of money into the production, recording, mixing, mastering, and promotion of the new Black Eyed Stool album. Let's further assume the world in which this album is marketed and sold exists in such a way that sales will never decrease, but instead remain at some steady rate for all eternity (demand remains the same so that its market value never fluctuates either). So, while the first duplication run of CD's cost XYZ quite a bit (due to the initial investments), there exists a point in time in which the album will turn a profit. Since we've already stated that the rate of sales will never decrease, XYZ will continue to profit until the end of time. Therefore, the actual manufacturing costs of the CD's reduce to virtually nothing when factoring in long term revenue.

At this point there are two views:

1. Since Company XYZ has recouped its initial investment and all future CD duplication comes at no cost, all albums automatically hold NO VALUE and should be freely distributed or 'shared' for everyone. (same as your digital copies)
   
   OR
   
   
2. Since demand for this album still exists, you recognize that value can exist beyond tangible objects and allow Company XYZ and any other content owners to carry on with business as they see fit.

Now I know the above scenario is oversimplified and unrealistic, but I hope some may see my point. When I buy an album, I'm not purchasing the plastic or magnetic tape the music has been transferred to, but the actual content. Just because physical discs are no longer necessary to listen to music or watch movies doesn't mean the content no longer possesses value. To think this way is absurd. I'm not concerned with the profit margins the record company is trying to maintain either. What it comes down to is a desire on my behalf to listen to/watch something, and if I feel that desire justifies the cost, I'll purchase it.