Under most circumstances, you would be correct. However, there are certain situations under which it is grammatically correct to omit the final mark of punctuation: when a speaking character is defenestrated mid-dialogue; when the narrator has just discovered himself to be his own grandpa; and (as is clearly the case in the grandparent post) when quoting the first line of a limerick:
Wish I had mod points, this entire thread is one of the funniest ever on
Second quite possibly only to last week's delightful essay on the breakdancing robot
Of course it would be
somewhat remiss of me
Not to mention that I find most everything hilarious because I just don't get out a whole lot.
You make some compelling arguments, and I agree with a lot of what you say - to a point. However, my feeling is that you are wrong on one crucial point: I don't think that the overwhelming majority of people who pirate music do so because they don't believe that artists are entitled to any sort of compensatory rights for what they do (forgive me if I'm misstating your point: I'm inferring that from "Whatever rights the artist may claim, the majority don't recognise them.") I think that filesharing has simply become the path of least resistance: it's convenient, and free, and the assumption is made that other people will buy the record and support the artist. I think it's much like citizens who don't bother to vote: while there is undoubtedly a small core of people who believe that voting is meaningless and that the democratic system is inherently flawed, most nonvoters essentially believe in the system, but are content to rely on the participation of others. You find this statement unreasonable: "The artist deserves to be rewarded for their work, therefore every single one of you who listens to me has to pay." To be honest, I don't find anything particularly high-minded in the converse: "The artist deserves to be rewarded for their work, therefore someone else should pay."
I agree with you that the current interface between artists and audience is far from ideal. One thing I find interesting about your position, however, is the notion that there should not necessarily be any kind of correlation between the number of people who enjoy an artist's music and the degree to which that artist should be financially compensated. I'm just curious: do you feel the same way about sports stars (for example)? My perception (which may be skewed, I admit) is that whereas most members of society - in or out of the arts and entertainment community - who affect the lives of large numbers of people would be expected to make a correspondingly large amount of money, there seems to be growing sentiment that musicians should be held to a different type of standard altogether.
"May your future be limited only by your dreams." -- Christa McAuliffe
