[sbutton]

I like to copy stuff from BitTorrent whenever possible, but I really do find it's not a simple question of right and wrong.

For example, I object to buying DVD's where they FORCE you to watch a stupid advert of a teenage girl pirate baddie, with that annoying music.

DVD's get scratched FAR too easily. Can't they make them more resilient? But why would "they" want to to that. ;-)

I don't want to line the pockets of movie company executives and record company executives, who do very little to deserve that money.

I don't know if I'm going to like something, and can't really take back a CD / DVD because I thought it was rubbish.

Up until recently I've had HUGE debts, and found it hard to justify paying for stuff which I could get for free.

Does Tom Cruise really need any more money?

It's easier to download an album and copy to my slimserver / squeezebox than it is to go out buy the CD and rip it.

On The Other Hand....

I really can't be bothered to spend a great deal of time downloading / burning a movie, which often turns out to be poor quality (I'm being honest here about the REAL reasons). Life's too short. I suspect the record/movie companies know this, which is why they put up poisoned versions with noise / loops, etc.

Artists should be rewarded fairly for their work. And so should the distributors be rewarded FAIRLY.

Now software is a completely different story, as the charging model is completely different. Software tends to be expensive. I very rarely pay for software as I evaluate FOSS versions first, and only look to commercial if there is no decent alternative. I don't want to pay Microsoft a barrowload of money for an operating system which they have monopolised us all into using. Having said that I have spent several thousand pounds (GB money) on software in the last few years, mostly with Actinic so I'm not completely averse to coughing up when it's worth it.

Books are different again, but as people still like to read books on physical paper (for now) they are still impractical to copy.

Blogs and web articles are different again, as people are VERY reluctant to pay for any such content. How would you steal that anyway? You could only really plagiarise it, which is another story.

I would like to see a system where all music was distributed for a low fixed monthly license fee and you could get all you can eat.

I would like to see a movie distribution business where the independents get a look in, and are able to compete with the big four and keep them on their toes.

Books work quite well, leave them alone.

Blogs are supported by advertising and affiliation, which again works quite well.

Steve