Here's what I think.All the copyright and lost revenue noise is absurd. People will collect all they can because it's free, and only because it's free. When it costs money, nobody's interested. The big iTune launch - what have they got, .000001 % of the Kazaa action?
Music publishers talk about the lost billions - do they really believe that if it wasn't for the Internet and Napster, those 15 year old kids would have bought $68,000 worth of CDs instead of downloading MP3s? Give me a break: downloading HELPED the recorded music business - CD sales went UP when Napster was in business and plunged when they were shut down. People won't take a chance on a $18 CD without hearing it. When they could download tunes and check it out first, they went out to buy.
The truth is that the majority of CD sales are centered around MTV and radio exposure - one tune or one video is used to market an entire CD that's usually 99% crap. What on-line music sharing might do is impact the purchase of a CD based on a single - and to that extent impacts sales. But the argument that downloads directly represent lost sales? That's just pure BS.