I don't disagree that rightsholders should be paid. But the word most certainly is *not* "stealing." The filesharers are making "unauthorized copies," they aren't "stealing." I've been the victim of both burglary and infringement of my copyright, and I can assure you they are quite different.

You want to talk about stealing, let's talk about the way ASCAP and BMI take money from venues but don't actually bother to accurately figure out who is entitled to get the royalties they collect, as well as trying to claim license fees for music that they don't have the right to claim license fees for.

For the record, 90% of the music I've acquired in the last year was either *purchased* directly from the artists in question or through CD Baby. The remaining 10% was *purchased* from Amazon, Borders, or the used record store down the street.

Wow, the "cuddly stuffed animal version" is very appealing. Does anyone know where I can get one of these? I feel that I must have one for my desk.