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Originally Posted by
john galt 
I haven't read her decision but it appears the complaint was due to music copyright violation concerns.
Of course it was. What else would it be about?
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Ever since record/CD sales began its inexorable decline the music industry began looking for a scapegoat, never questioning their habit of producing horrible music for the sole purpose of padding a CD containing one decent song. I never thought Napster and its descendants was the sole reason for the decline.
Maybe not the sole reason, but one of the largest. Definitely.
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After all the time it's taken for this complaint to work its way through the courts, it appears to be a moot point anyway. I doubt that much illegal music copying exists any more, so if it were to cease completely, I don't believe musicians would suddenly realize any sudden increase in revenue.
The iTMS fundamentally and permanently altered traditional music distribution channels. It's my opinion it also reduced the extent of copyright infringement. It's too convenient to pay 99¢ and know what you're getting.
After seeing Apple's Lion preview (with its integrated Mac App Store) I believe we will see a similar effect on illegal software as well.
It clearly still exists, but it's also not as widespread. I agree...iTunes really did change everything, even though it wasn't the first. I think the reason is they've made it easier to buy than to steal, which is the right approach. I can pay a $1 and a get a high-quality compressed track that is indistinguishable from a CD on most equipment, or I can search for the right song on Limewire, going through all the garbage such as low bitrate and sources, corrupted files, porn, bad quality, etc...all to risk getting caught and sued. Fantastic. I'll pay the $1.00, thanks. And I'll sleep at night.
