When will they (finally) get it? (Score 1)

No pay-per-view or other copy protection scheme will ever thwart the serious pirate. That it is obvious - we know it and they know it. Still, the media companies persits in inventing one silly "protection" scheme after the other and see to that outragous laws are enacted to cover up the inherent and intrinsic weaknesses in these schemes.

When will they get it? I mean, when will they understand that thay have the potential of providing a service that no pirate ever can rival -- namely the world's collected litterature and recorded music, on-line!!!

If I knew that whenever I wanted I could access any book or any music recording ever made in the world for, let's say, a nickle and some dimes, well, I personally wouldn't care much for Napster and its brethren. Why bother with poorly indexed stuff and uncertain downloads when I can get it cheaply directly from the source?

Intricate and cumbersome copy protection schemes wouldn't be necessary. Presicely as for ordinary CDs and videos, "fair use" copying wouldn't be a problem and the problem of large scale, criminal pirating would be the same but remain within in the juristiction of the "old" copyright legislation. Sure, I would stack my favourite mp3s on disk, and maybe even mail one or two to my pals - but then they would have to place the song somwhere they could find it when they want it. But what if it's much simpler for my friend John, for a negligible one-time fee, just to enter a few characters at the website of BigMediaMultiCorp and get it from there?

Assume I today would like to listen to all Glen Miller recordings from 1941. Or all recordings artist X made with other artist Y. Or that song I heard on the radion with the catchy refraing "Sing La-la-la ... " ... I'd be willing to pay for having all that at my fingertips.

When will the get it? Digital technolgy isn't a threat to media companies - it's an unsurpassed opportunity that does not require either new copy protection schemes or sweeping and overboard legislation!