What to do about music piracy?

Students are stealing music, but music bosses fell behind

The music industry is on rock-solid legal ground when it goes after people who steal their products.

But as the industry launches its war on piracy against college students across America, it needs to exert the same amount of energy to admitting that its slow reaction to technology has brought on its problems.

Illegal file-sharing is theft, pure and simple. It may sound preachy to tell college students that music, like money, doesn't grow on trees. But when the record industry points the finger at college campuses, where an enormous amount of illegal file-sharing is occurring, it is definitely on to a big part of the problem. In addition to tracing the illegal activity of college kids, the music industry should also look in the mirror. The business has done a lousy job of making young people understand the principles of intellectual property. In the end, it is threatening lawsuits against its potential customers.


Read more on Tennessean.com