[Porsche-O-Phile]

Funny, but completely invalid logic when you think about it.

Stealing merchandise screws the retailer, not the "rich" companies producing the product as he implies.

Do I think artists should be compensated for their work? Absolutely.

But IMHO it's quite hard for an entity like the RIAA or MPAA to claim any sort of "moral high ground" when all they're really doing is defending a system that allows THEM (exclusively) to steal from the artists, exploit them, manipulate them and force them to do all the work while they do little but sit back on their arses and collect the lion's share of the checks for someone else's work.

The artists that are bypassing the mainstream distribution channels (held hostage by RIAA/MPAA) and going direct to the fans are the ones who are ultimately doing the best thing for both themselves, their profession/art and the fans. The faster the "fat cats" get cut out of the loop, the better the rest of us will be. That's one good thing to come out of the computer/information age - the technology is there to get rid of the exploitive dinosaurs. And the smart artists are doing just that.