well written bob you got it just right.people will continue downloading free one way or another..
proxy servers anyone?? and
what about the difference across the eu whereby in spain its ok to download for personal use.. its the uk again thats screwed up. out of date once more the nanny state fails.

peter jones, moscow,

For me the issue is quality. The music industry hegemony has stifled creativity. Where are today's Who, The Animals, Dylan? The answer increasingly is on the web. Anarchy in its purest form - that's rock and roll. And I'm happy to pay £50 to see my favourite bands.

zeb mccardle, sunderland, uk

A large part of the problem is the fact that so much content is not available digitally to buy legally. If the movie, TV and music producers would get their act together and provide all of their content for purchase online then the majority will be happy to pay. The industry is run by dinosaurs.

MB, Edinburgh,

I downloaded one 1980s album from iTunes and was charged over £10. Cost of getting it to me, including fixed cost, marketing, etc? About 50p, absolute maximum. Charge £1, and that's still a 100% markup. 'Piracy' will continue until music distribution charges drop to a reasonable level.

Alfred T Mahan, New Forest,

THE internet is a great sales tool for music, i found celtic
woman on u tube and went out and purchased their cds
and world music is now ready available in uk, music companies if the deal is right we buy if its not we dont.

george william taylor, hull, uk

I stumbled across Sigur Ros on the Culture Show last year but only saw 2 tracks which I liked. I downloaded more to see if the CDs were worth buying. They were and I went on to buy all their CDs and DVD. It's not all about getting something for free but checking value for money. I do this regularly.

Keith Jones, Korat, Thailand

Thats fine for people using UK ISPs, what about the rest of the world ? My ISP here in Thailand is not going to threaten me for fear of losing my custom !

Keith Jones, Korat, Thailand

Going into a shop to buy a CD I can now see why people download them. £16 is a little extreme. Why aren't record companies turning to high CD prices and lowering them to encourage people to buy instead of download rather than just raking in the profits? Oh, I think I just answered my own question.

Andrew, Shrewsbury, England

I download lots of music to see what I like, I most of the time download at random, when I find out what I like, I buy it,

Adam Webb, Mk, UK

I would so grudge spending money on music I already own, albeit on vinyl.

Anne, Kelso,

The Germans continue to build ships. Their current account is 15 billion euros in the black.
Our current account deficit last year was around £60 billion.

Douglas Maxwell, Richmond, Yorkshire

I'm happy to buy iTunes downloads.

The fees seem reasonable, the product is available at the click of a mouse, and the quality fair - especially the +plus tracks.

By the same token I read the free online newspapers and mags, but pay for a hardcopy from time to time.

DJ, Brill, UK

1. The fact that I have downloaded something doesn't necessarily mean that I would ever spend real money on it.
2. As it happens I have fairly frequently down loaded something, liked it and then gone out and bought the CD.
3. The market has spoken and it says CDs are too expensive.

Peter, Birmingham, UK

Those that defend free downloading need to explain how artists will be compensated for their work if this practice is permitted. This problem remains central to the whole issue of intellectual property law and is not going away. Saying artists will rely on live performance is not satisfactory.

Michael E Piston, Troy, USA

They'll eventually make the same case for books etc to be free, because if they dont come off a printing press anymore, they don't have ownership 'value'. Then you won't have a platform to spew bullshit anymore, and the internet will become a cyber Charity Shop where everything's cheap and crappy.

jj, London, U.K.

You can avoid the pitfalls of P2P by using Rapidshare to download.

mike, london,

I am a classical fan and the current situation has led to sets of 10 operas selling for less than one opera would have cost a few years ago. The only thing that worries me is that there will be fewer and fewer new recordings and that can't be a good thing.

David Maclachlan, Romanshorn, Switzerland

As over 85% of the worlds goods are transported at one point on ships it is hard to see the analogy to shipyards. How would one transport 200,000 tones of real crude oil on one of Mr Stanley's "virtual" ships?

Bill, SINGAPORE,

There is no such thing as "illegal downloading of music" as it is the UPloading of COPYRIGHT music which is the basis of the BMI complaint. In trying to blur the terminology, they seek to gain a monopoly over ALL music. They must be stopped, or we'll be back to £18 an album and less choice.

Paul Wilson, London, UK

The record industry is like BT. Nothing new will happen until the monolith is split. BT stays alive because nearly all of us have a landline and BT owns the 'copper wire'.

michael, brightlingsea, england

So what if nobody else recorded anything ever again?

That would possibly mean people making their own and playing it at social gatherings again.

I'm not sure that the lack of a recording industry was really all that much of a hindrance to the likes of Beethoven, etc.

Tom Bower, Oxford, United Kingdom

So your ISP is going to send you a threatening letter and possibly cut you off if you download illegally?
Well they don't have a monopoly and as long as there is one ISP who doesn't join the 'music-mafia' free music will be available for all to listen to it.

GJB, Slough, Berkshire

Wonder what would happen if you changed the words 'record company' to 'newspaper publisher', 'musician' to 'writer' and 'CD' to 'article'? These press bozos would all yell and scream that they'll be out of a job just like most musicians these days. If you don't pay for my music then you are a thief

Scot Richards, Brisbane, Australia

The best album of the decade was, according to NME, the Grey Album, a mix by DJ Dangerman of the Beatles White album and Jay-Z's Black album. Of ocurse, most of you don't know because EMI would not allow its release. The only way to get it was to buy it illegally. These music companies are parasites

Iain, Tokyo, Japan

EMI look crazy.....stagnation at the top brought about by too many ambitious yes men and very little respect for reality and the public. Music is about the heart and this is, in reality, not a commodity...

chris thorsen, Lille, France

Shipbuilding ain't outdated. We still need ships to carry goods around the world's oceans. It's just that it is not viable in this country because we are all supposed to be into "high value added" rubbish like pop-music. Which is so much pointless air and why our economy is ultimately doomed.

Paul, Wolverhampton, UK

In its final phase when it could only afford to pay schoolkids or pensioners as staff, someone asked Rhythms in Redhill for a Blue Oyster Cult album and was referred to the fishmongers in the nearby arcade. Still, we all remember the red and white striped bags - can we download those?

C. Ramsden, Reigate, England

It's not "old economy" argument - it's really just plain jane biscuits. Buy something, get something in return. I can buy a record over the internet, they ship it to me, I then have it. I can do that with books and movies, too.

It doesn't need to be virtual to be virtuous.

Chris, Atlanta, USA

You're right about EMI. Along with other things, I ordered, from Amazon, a Blondie greatest hits CD re-release for my 2005 birthday. Everything else arrived on time, but they still haven't managed to get it out. Three years to NOT issue a re-release!! That must take a lot of management.

Bill Peter, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

This is the old economy argument that the Internet can only be a marketing vehicle for physical goods and services. If the Internet is to grow and prosper it must find a way of selling intellectual/copyrighted property, including music.

Glen, Melbourne, Australia

Buying a download is to get nothing in return for your money except an extended rental. I can re-sell my LPs, but if I try that with my downloads - I'm breaking the law. Friends don't let friends buy downloads.

Chris, Atlanta, USA

1. 'Illegal' downloading is not theft. Theft denies someone the use of their property. I steal your TV you can't use it.
2. When you download you 'get' a piece of computer code that is easy and cheap to copy. So cheap its free. That is the 'price' set by the market.

Rob, Lima, Peru

Umm, why is shipbuilding outdated. People still need ships. Are we no longer using ships in this brave new world as yours?

And downloading is not "buying air." It is buying an idea, a copyrighted piece of information. That is a fundamental item bought and sold and has been for centuries.

Scott, Norfolk, VA, USA

Gordon Brown might like to reflect that 376 people may have voted against him in the by-election precisely because of his adulation of the record labels. How appropriate that toadying to big business will probably cost him his job.

Clive, Monterrey, Mexico