If only things were so simple. Hey, I'm sure if Africans had a nice stable democracy, with a ludicrously powerful dollar to return to, then they would go home to. The poster before me had simply asked why people in Zimbabwe didn't leave, and we've both given him part of the answer.

One thing that I discovered on my visits to Africa is that it can be extremely difficult for Africans to get visas to enter other counties. They don't have the freedom of movement that we enjoy. On top of that, many will have responsibilities to support relatives (social security in Zim is very limited), so leaving ain't as easy as it might first appear.

It seems clever. At least when there is just one copy typed up and given to someone else, then you know there is only one copy.

It reminds me of that urban legend of NASA spending X million developing a pressurised ball point that would work in space and the Russians using a pencil.

Two and a half years ago, when eircom agreed to implement this 3 strikes rule, Big Media offered eircom a sweetener, which was a free music streaming site for their customers. This was just announced to be closing, so much for the 'carrot' part.

The 3-strikes 'stick' part of their approach is effective, people that have gotten a warning letter have changed their behaviour.... to the point of using less detectable technology such as VPNs or f2f Retroshare

Ireland has a vibrant community of artists and musicians, many of whom are crowdfunding their first releases giving them a direct connection to their fans. People here show a willingness to pay for legal content, itunes (easy to use) and netflix (good value) have both had a big impact here, and globally of course.

These court battles are becoming less and less relevant. We know now that sharing communities and technology will always outpace the enforcers, and also that people will pay for content when it's judged to be affordable and easy to use. Big Media will simply have to learn that lesson and evolve. Those that won't will fade.