I read two of Dvoraks articles. I found some key points. But when I reviewed my own moral (or lack therof) and economical reasons for downloading music, I got thrown into a paradox.
If I can make a CD for close to nothing (cost of a blank CD- about $.15), why would it cost 100 times more money ($15.00) to purchase the very same digital music on CD from a company that mass produces these things for most likely less than what I pay for my $.15 blank CD.
I remember listening to a radio station from Detroit as I was pulling into my parking space outside my house. The DJ was talking directly to a popular artist (do not remember who) over the phone, and the subject was brought up about how much money an artists see's from the purchase of CD's. He said (and I'm paraphrasing) that the money the artists receive from sales of CD's is and has been not as much as a fraction of what they see at concerts. He said that although they see some profit, it's hardly nothing.
Now this artist wasn't insinuating how much he profit he was losing from downloaded music, but rather how much he was losing to the recording industry.
When I download music, I don't look at it as stealing. I look at it as sharing. The person who ripped the CD to MP3 format most likely payed money for his copy (I doubt the computer geek walked out of the music store with a CD and ripped it to MP3). That money was sent to the recording industry, and a penny or two actually trickled down to the artist after fees from the recording studios and taxes and such.
SCENARIO:
Ford. Everyone has them. They are pretty much an average car. An average Ford vehicle will cost you about $25,000.
Now lets say you could go out and buy a new product that just came out on the market- "The Vehicle Replicator 1000". This replicator costs about $100,000. Ford doesn't make any money from it's sales, since it is produced in Japan from a company that produces electronics, and sold here in the US.
All you need to do is buy a Ford vehicle (or borrow one from a friend) and stick it in the machine. You also need some raw materials to make the car. It only costs about $250 to throw in some metal, aluminum, plactic, etc... About 10 minutes later, out comes an exact duplicate. Now the car is lacking some visual features, like pinstripes, nice metallic gloss paint, aluminum wheels, and fog lights. But the car runs the same and it gets you around just like the original.
Once you have the original car saved in the Replicator 1000's memory banks, you can continue producing copies. You could even sell these copies as originals and make a lot of money. But instead, you keep the replicated car you have for your own personal use.
Being a traveling business man that drives his car hundreds of miles a day, you put 150,000 miles on a car every couple months. Once the car gets up to about 170,000 miles, it dies, and you have to go out get a new car. This time it's a different model. The car replicator will last you a while before it breaks down. Of course, over the years, faster and faster relicators are made. Often times, you upgrade. Some of the models die, and you have to RMA.
Are you obligated to go to a Ford Dealership, or perhaps even Ford Motor Company directly and pay for the car your replicated, even though you replicated one yourself. I mean, you payed for the replicator, and for the raw materials, right? Ford Motor company didn't have to pay any money for parts and labor. They didn't even know you replicated their car. They aren't missing any parts. They aren't missing any cars. The only time they notice is at the end of the quarter when they find out they didn't make as much money as they hoped.
In this scenario, here are the variables:
Original Ford Vehicle = Original Audio CD
Replicator 1000 = CD Burner
Raw Materials = Blank CDR
Ford Motor Company = Recording Industry
You = A P2P file sharer
Ok, I'm finished. You will notice that the cost of raw materials and the cost of a CDR is a ratio. The cost of everything else is also comparable. I did the math
::Slams book on desk:: I'm finished, you can all wake up now