Allthough morally wrong, legally we (file swappers) are right. It is your computer, your songs, and putting files in the "shared folder" does NOT legally make the songs "public", as I have argued in the past. In court, I demonstrated that by connecting computer A. to Computer B. via my P2P software Napster and transfering an MP3 file in the same room. Now who's to say I don't own both computers? Yes I am "offering my songs" but to whom? The answer is myself. I was offering them to myself. In the same room I transfered my copyrighted file to myself. Since I cannot physically touch a song all I can do it merely capture and contain it. Legally that is no more than playing a song at a high school dance, or listening to Nickelback on a conference call.
The problem is YOU. You lazy edited just sit there and let it happen. Since the RIAA has semi-deep pockets (Thanks to the 31 % decrease in album sales us "file swappers" stole from them.) now is the perfect time to fight. I fought. I lost. Napster lost. And at this rate, YOU the user will lose and P2P will be a myth in 5 years.
Fact #1:
Oh and all you edited who this the RIAA is "rich" or some giant "media monster", your are wrong again. Record companys do not have that much money and usually do not OWN songs, only RECORDINGS of songs. Giants like Sony benefit from file swapping as it sells their CD players, CD burners, and CD's. Sony holds 50 % of the patent of the CD. So when ever a CD, blank or recorded is sold, Sony gets paid.
Fact #2:
Giants like Sony Seagram Vivendi Universal Time Warner make 5 times as much money off of movies than music. AND they make 5 times as much off of wine and alcohol than they do movies. The recording divisions are like "Little Sister" and a lot of the times musicians and producers own most of the company, like Mettalica, Jako, and Madonna.
What we need is Bill Gates to equall all 5 million of you edited.
Sincerely,
Napster