There can be only be one winner in this situation – the major record labels.
By telling their contracted artists they’re the victims of the evil downloaders, the labels have been able to blur the line between online sharing, and criminal counterfeiting, duplicating and illicit underground sales.
At the same time, they’re using file sharing as an excuse to demand that governments everywhere give them blanket laws that threaten everyone’s individual liberty, artists and fans alike, and which will be paid for not by the labels, who initiated them for purely business purposes, but by customers and taxpayers.
The labels dominate the debate because they have bottomless pockets, legions of lawyers, paid lobbyists and PR machines at their disposal. Fans who share files have had no voice in this discussion. That must change.
