So I don’t think record contracts are the impetus for human creativity, in fact, I think its the opposite: record companies stifle creativity. Music will be around even if the musicians are no longer making millions and the record companies go belly up. And now with the ability for a 15 year old to make great music with free and open source software it really mocks the recording industry’s ability to “grant” us musicians.

As for your idiotic notions about the destruction of the Internet if things became free, let’s not forget that a whole heck of a lot of the Internet is run on free, community maintained software like FreeBSD and Linux and less reliable proprietary software like Windows is in the minority. So yet again, the sky won’t fall.

Mark MY words, we’re now a globally connected community and as such we will all want to share what we love, whether it be music, videos, pictures, software or the written word. That’s just human nature. You can call it stealing and you can call it “Intellectual Property” ... whatever it is, this form of connection will not go away and should not go away. Let’s herald in the slippery slope!

For many artists, it is as difficult to write a song (and often it requires more equipment) than it is for a computer programmer to write software. A song can take months. An album can take years. But should a song be available for free? Or, does a song have an inherent worth that deserves to be paid for?

Generally speaking, songs and software are both forms of Intellectual Property (IP). Like Physical Property, IP is owned and protected for a number of reasons..

1. Mental effort goes into making Intellectual Property.

2. Time goes into making Intellectual Property.

3. And lastly, financial investment goes into making Intellectual Property.

So why should you care about IP?

Without mental effort, time and investment, there would be no Internet. There would be no operating systems and no hardware.

So if the popular notion of The Pirate Bay takes hold in that all ideas should be free, will we ultimately destroy the Internet?

Certainly, if we devalue one form of IP (the lowly song) and destroy it in the name of nihilism, it may be a slippery slope to the destruction of other forms of IP.

Ronald Reagan said in the 80s that careers in computers would replace menial labor jobs. And indeed, as developed countries embraced computers, labor jobs went to developing nations. With this trend, the value of the mind was elevated. But now, with the ultimate survival of IP in question, where are we going for our future?

If ideas have no value, then do we, as modern thinking nations have no value? With this in mind, it may be possible that illegal downloading will lead to the downfall of society as IP crumbles beneath our fingertips and a ripple effect takes hold in the global economy.

Folks, TPB’s attitude is a fallacy and a siren of destruction. As they sap billions of dollars out of the world economy, they are initiating and encouraging a larger trend of collapse for the $1 trillion (USD) IP industry. When this $1 trillion industry falls, it will spill over to other sectors of the economy. Ordinary jobs will be endangered and the world will fall into a global depression never before experienced in modern times.

Mark these words; if you pirate, you are contributing to the slippery slope for which there is no escape. No matter who you are, what you do or where you live, your job and future is intrinsically linked to the future of IP.