Remember the story from last month where four people died when a festival tent at Pukkelpop in Belgium collapsed during a severe thunderstorm?

Naturally, the festival organizers had insurance to cover these sorts of catastrophic things. So if you're the Adjuster assigned to the case, to what would you assign blame? The tent manufacturer? Those who erected the tent? Perhaps those in charge of supervising the tent?

No. You blame illegal file-sharing.

Here's the insurance company's reasoning: Illegal file-sharing has led to fewer CD sales. Fewer CD sales have forced artists, managers and labels to emphasize the live music experience--including festivals, of course--to make up for the lost revenue. Advertising these live gigs attracts people. And should a thunderstorm strike, those people risk being killed or injured.


When the tent fell, I thought for sure the culprit was gravity.