[Drakonix]

I think that the VCR argument (for P2P) is one of the best. Apparently, the movie industry must think so to, they don't like hearing VCRs and P2P filesharing equated.

The movie industry tried to kill the VCR touting it would destroy them. Their scheme didn't work, VCR's are still here - and the industry is still thriving. It was pretty much the same thing with the introduction of cassette tape recorders and recordable CDs.

Commercial pre-recorded movies on VHS previously cost between US$60 and US$120. Folks didn't like that price and started copying videotapes, accepting a quality loss in the process. Lots of people were doing it. A local music/video store was selling blank VHS tapes by the case, from piles of cases on several pallets sitting on the floor.

The industry tried copy protection on video tapes, but soon there were devices that removed the undesirable signal that ruined the copied movie. People rented movies and copied them. Hmmm. This storyline sounds really familiar, doesn’t it?

I was one of the many people buying blank audio cassettes and taping from radio and vinyl records - and buying cases of blank tapes and copying movies from TV broadcasts, DSS, and rented videotapes.

The industry turned it around (for movies) by selling pre-recorded VHS movies for under US$20. Suddenly, folks were less interested in copying videotapes and the pallet loads of blank tapes in stores went away. OMG a fair product for a fair price (with some annoying advertising) , and they treat it like it was their own novel idea.

I remember when music on CDs were first available. My Dad and myself called them "Condom Disks" in reference to the price tag. Buying music CDs and (a rapist) using condoms were a similar idea, you got shagged but it didn’t cause pregnancy or disease. We purchased very few music CDs, even though we liked the better sound quality they had.

With great anticipation I waited until CD burners and blank CDs became available and reasonable in price. My goal was to make CDs containing the songs I wanted. The tracks were all from CDs I had purchased.

Then came Napster, and we all know where that storyline goes. Using Napster increased my interest in music - simply because it was available and (whole songs) could be sampled for free. As I acquired more tunes, I ended up buying more CDs to get the tracks I liked in higher quality. Downloaded songs were replaced with higher quality versions ripped from purchased CDs. The result was going from buying two or three CDs per year to US$100-$400 worth of CDs per month. The volume purchasing of CDs stopped when Napster's problems with the RIAA started. Now, I'm back to purchase of 3 or less CDs per year. I guess this is what the RIAA is talking about when it blames P2P for a decline in CD sales.

The demand for recordable CD and recordable DVD devices and related software supports a huge industry too, with an intent to run profitable businesses. Now instead of pallets loaded with cases of blank VHS tapes, there are whole isles in stores devoted to blank CD’s and blank DVDs.

Oh well, a stack off 100 blank recordable CDs or DVDs is a lot easier to carry than a case of blank audio cassettes or a case of blank VHS videotapes, and the media is less expensive.

The movie and music industries know the rules, they just don't like being bound by them.