Anthony1
Android Enthusiast
They aren't being threatened with violence, but they are being potentially threatened with deprivation of internet access; which is extremely serious in the 21st century.
And as for theft, why is it theft? Because the law says so? The law used to say that women couldn't vote. It used to say that you could legally own someone as a slave. Just because the law says so doesn't make it so, and it doesn't make it right.
The trouble here is that RIAA, and the people who support them, seem to be under the impression that they, and artists, have a divine right to make money. They don't, any more than anyone else does.
Thousands of years of human trade has been built largely upon one basic principle: Plentyful things are cheap and rare things are expensive.
We're in an electronic world where, by all the laws of trade, digital music should be free; because it's potentially in limitless supply. We've had these similar situations before, such as during the industrial revolution when rare things made by hand suddenly became plentiful things made by machines. The market adjusts and copes naturally according to the natural laws of trade: Prices fall, new opportunities arise, and old ones die. People adapt and change.
RIAA doesn't want to adapt or change in the face of advancement. They want to maintain their, in many cases, very priviledged lifestyles. They want to keep everything just the same, and they're using their financial clout to force through laws to maintain that situation. They deserve to fail.
And as for the artists themselves. They have no more divine right to continue to make money from electronic sales than coal miners did from digging up coal. The smart ones adapt and find a way. The stupid fight to maintain the status quo.
And as for theft, why is it theft? Because the law says so? The law used to say that women couldn't vote. It used to say that you could legally own someone as a slave. Just because the law says so doesn't make it so, and it doesn't make it right.
The trouble here is that RIAA, and the people who support them, seem to be under the impression that they, and artists, have a divine right to make money. They don't, any more than anyone else does.
Thousands of years of human trade has been built largely upon one basic principle: Plentyful things are cheap and rare things are expensive.
We're in an electronic world where, by all the laws of trade, digital music should be free; because it's potentially in limitless supply. We've had these similar situations before, such as during the industrial revolution when rare things made by hand suddenly became plentiful things made by machines. The market adjusts and copes naturally according to the natural laws of trade: Prices fall, new opportunities arise, and old ones die. People adapt and change.
RIAA doesn't want to adapt or change in the face of advancement. They want to maintain their, in many cases, very priviledged lifestyles. They want to keep everything just the same, and they're using their financial clout to force through laws to maintain that situation. They deserve to fail.
And as for the artists themselves. They have no more divine right to continue to make money from electronic sales than coal miners did from digging up coal. The smart ones adapt and find a way. The stupid fight to maintain the status quo.
