valisk's Journal: Downloading Music that you already own

One thing that always bugs me is the 'gray area' which exists if you download music files that you already own.
Legally in the UK I can copy any LP, CD, Video, DVD or Cassette Tape that I have bought legally to another medium, so I can protect the original from wear and tear.
What I would like to do when I come across 'Protected' media, (which will, in a short space of time, be afforded the full protection of EU law, in other words, Rip it and risk prison) is simply fire up a p2p browser, find the tracks which make up the CD and burn them to a crisp new CD-R.
I can't see anything wrong with this, but in the UK the new EU DMCA style laws will be more stringent than anywhere else in Europe. The EU DMCA as originally designed will still leave the 'reasonable use' entitlement, In the UK to make use of this entitlement I will need to get written permission from the Home Secretary, currently Jack Straw, for each use of my entitlement.
How thrilling that prospect is:

Dear Mr. Straw

Yesterday I bought the latest Scooter CD Album and I would like to make a daily use copy so I can retain my original in as close to pristine condition as possible, would you please give me written permission to use my legal rights to circumvent the copy protection scheme.

Regards,

John H.

Right, I can just see good old Jack, firing up his PC and bashing out a few thousand replies a day, and I can really see the Judge buying claims that I didn't break the Copy protection, I avoided it altogether by downloading the .mp3s, so it would be nice to have this cleared up by the time our liberty loving parliamentarians get round to enacting the bidding of their corporate masters.