Dear Peter

[theknife]

Peter Gabriel is my all-time favorite artist and he has just released his first cd in years - and this is one release that I would ordinarily run out and buy without hesitation.

But I just can't do it...and I have such respect for him as an artist that I felt compelled to explain why. So I just posted this at the general forum at his site.


Dear Peter,

I've just finished downloading your new cd from Grokster (the FastTrack Network).

You know, I have bought virtually every album you've ever made - all the way back to From Genesis to Revelation....and I would have been pleased to buy the tracks on your new one as well.

But I will not support the RIAA any longer. Not one more dime to the recording industry. I will no longer support the cartel that would like nothing less than total control over all music distribution and the ability to disable any technology it finds threatening. These are the same people that would like to see chips in my computer that would restrict what I can listen to...the people that are working very hard to eliminate the concepts of "fair use" and "public domain". I have come to regard downloading music as a form of civil disobedience, and I'd like to think that, in some small way, I am helping to dismantle a monopolistic, archaic, and essentially corrupt business model.

I would have been thrilled to pay you directly, and just download the tracks from your site...and I would think a techologically savvy and socially aware artist like yourself would have an interest in distributing your music thusly. But I don't need to buy a disc and I don't need your record company and I think the day has come when you don't either.

Regards,
A Fan

He's a very sharp guy, technologically speaking, and he is also keenly aware of social issues...and while I doubt he will ever read this, I would like to think he gets the message.