OK, some clarification needed here.

I actually didn't mean you Kwazywabbit but reading it again I can see how you interpreted it that way. I meant say hello to me. From that point on I cleared my availability folder and decided to just download what I wanted when I wanted. However, I have changed my mind on that now. There are people out there trying to do the decent thing by giving as well as recieving and to put myself in the camp of the freeloaders was not obtaining what was best for all (yeah, alright, I went off on one, ok).

My original gripe was with chat enabled users who blocked, without answer, my polite request to share but still expected to rip the bejesus out of me and block bandwidth for legit users. It still is, but thanks to kwazywabbit pointing out the obvious, they now get firewalled.

In the matter of being a target for authorities watching and waiting to pounce on me for file sharing, I'm really not that bothered in light of the numerous 'companies' and people on ebay and Amazon claiming they sell originals. I've lost count of how many times i've bought a 'Genuine' DVD from there only to find it's a copy (No booklet and barebone features is a dead give away). Why should I be worried when the authorities can't even stop them? What they can gain from taking my PC away from me, I don't know. I could be rekitted and back on the net within hours.

One final point - So, Sony are putting pressure on the courts. If that is supposed to deter me then let me say this - given they have taken over one of the largest companies dealing with multimedia software (Sonic Foundry) and not only does that software copy media, but allows you to CHANGE it, it smacks of double standards in pursuit of profit by any means and won't stop me one bit from copying material. As for artists rights, some deserve their royalties and so i'm quite happy to purchase their material. Others on the other hand have been sucking their fans dry for years and deserve to have their material nicked (look at Elton John's 'candle in the wind' version when Diana died. Where was his compassion while his bank account got fatter on the back of her death?)

I guess the thing to do is Rip while you can. Theres always restriction round the corner in one shape or another.