NguyenWin adds some really pertinent ideas to this subject, however i think he is way to critical of file sharing...
For most people it has now become a habit to simply download any song, video, game or program that they like without having to pay anything at all (if you forget the price of the computer and the high speed internet connection).
This may sound like nothing but its a major revolution in all our forms of communication.
There now is a massive information network were everyone can learn and enjoy everything they like for free.
Thanks to this people have developed a vast musical (and cultural) knowledge, that constantly pulls humanity higher, people can share ideas in the fastest and most effective way ever created.
Internet is the ultimate human tool for communication and file sharing its most developed expression.
Just imagine all the possibilities, this is the perfect tool for our freedom of expression, all our ideas and thoughts can be shared without borders, only our different languages limit this liberty.
People may say that this is bad for artists that do not get rewarded for their art. But at the contrary this represents the best way to preserve artistic expression and spread all its forms all around the planet.
Thanks to internet, artists can get known by their public, but for living, artists would do what they live for, perform in public....
People actually go to concerts more and more often these days and the musical industry could survive entirely from that, using the internet as a mean to attract their public and keeping file sharing free...
Not only is this better for the flow of ideas, vital for the well functioning of a democracy but it will also reduce all the crap commercial music that is bound to huge marketing campaigns get anyone to buy their (*)(*)(*)(*)...