I understand the music companies, I think. I am, of course, talking about the current issue of internet file trading versus copyrights. I even agree with them, in theory.

They don't like people passing copies of the songs they produce around to each other without getting themselves a piece of the action. That's a perfectly understandable position. They're a business. They make money by selling multiple copies of the music. Every copy that winds up in somone's hands without paying for it is money lost to the record company. Especially when you consider that most albums only have one or two good songs on them anyway, so once people have acquired those there's no point in their buying the whole CD.

I've heard the counter-argument that people might download a song to try it out before going out to buy the CD. If that were the way everybody did it, it might be slightly less hinky. However, at that point the record companies are relying on the goodwill and honesty of the consumer public to stay in business. I don't care what you're selling; that's a bad business model.

But I don't even think that's the real issue. Instead, it's a convention of copyright law. The law requires that a copyright holder vigorously defend his copyright. Otherwise, he could lose his claim to the work as it passes into public domain. He has to prosecute every violation. With each failure to do so, he adds credence to the next guy's attempt to use the work without compensation, because the new guy can point to the last guy and say, "Well, you let him get away with it."

So, they really don't have a choice but to crack down on file sharers.

It's just unfortunate how indefensibly ineptly they've gone about it.