you may think that, but do you realise that piracy is a major fund raiser for numerous terrorist organisations?

So is America remember where Sadam and Osama got funded!!!!!

Bono and his 3rd world debt crusade. Always got up my nose that one, a multi-millionaire preaching to working people that it's evil to make "poor" countries re-pay their debts..

A multi-millionaire who, thanks to Ireland's tax laws, will never have paid income tax on "artistic earnings"...

Rob.

Piracy funds terrorism? LOL the levels the record companies go...

As if they will prosecute thousands of file sharers, perhaps a few to show make an example, but do the really have the resources, time and funds on their hands to do this?

Dont think so.

Piracy funds terrorism? Well, my taxes fund a war against it, and I don't approve of that, either.

Anyway, the idea that the film/DVD/music industry is losing money to piracy is quite easy to disprove, because despite the huge growth of broadband in this country, CD sales in the UK have gone... up.

The headline is that sales have gone down - well, singles sales have plummeted. Mainly because of the way the record companies themselves sell them - i.e. they are dumped onto the market at 99p, a loss, which leads to everyone rushing out and buying them in the first week. Price goes up a week later, noone buys, single crashes in at #1, crashes out the next week at #40.

And of course, the only people buying singles are the fans of boy/girl bands. The only people making money off singles are the record companies - the bands themselves (Girls Aloud, Busted, Liberty X etc) are salaried. i.e, they don't get royalties on singles sold, just a fixed monthly wage.

Plus, of course, the record buying public have cottoned on to the fact that Rachel Stevens doesn't sing on her record, neither do Girls Aloud, Busted don't play on theirs. (Remember the fuss about Jensen Buttons girlfriend getting on 'Fame Academy' despite the fact she sang backing vocals on "Sound of the The Underground"? People were asking why she was on the sdhow if she had a record deal. They should have asked why a single from a five girl group required female backing vocals.)

Actual album sales have gone up, as record buyers spend their money more wisely. IIRC, the last RHCP album was at #1 for ages, despite not getting a top 10 single.

Another point. Sony own one of the large music companies, and bitch about piracy. Fine. I can take my Sony Vaio, hook it up to the net, download a film/album to my PC, burn it using a Sony DVD-writer to a Sony branded blank DVD/CD and then play it on my Sony Discman. Or tape it using my Sony hifi to a Sony blank tape. Or watch it on my Sony DVD player.

So where, exactly have Sony missed out on money?

>> An interesting link << about the latest campaign about DVD piracy. Its a deconstruction of the press pack sent out by the industry.