[Empeg-forsale] Re: For Sale: 96GB Empeg Mark2 Smoke Lens w/ Tuner Mod

[DanielWO@empegbbs-noreply.merlins.org]

I think this dilemma (pirating music, and pirating intellectual property in general) is particularly interesting.  Not only does one have to differentiate the moral boundaries between sellling another's property (in the case of this loaded empeg player) and sharing between unknown friends (Napster), but there is a much more practical issue at stake.  Copying music has always occurred, and it wasn't the issue that it is now.  It is an issue now because of the quality and ease of distribution of the copies - which means that it seriously undermines an industry.  In the case of the poster, the quality won't be that great, so it isn't much of a threat to Modern Humorist.  If I could walk into a poster store with a digital camera and then make great digital copies, share them with friends on the net, and have everyone be able to make great printouts on their printers at home, then it might become an issue.  But I can't, so it's not.
I have a feeling that some of the moral objections to the issue of pirating music are accentuated and motivated by an underlying practical issue - the fact that in its reaction to the problem, the music industry will limit the uses of the technology we love.