Forbidden topics

I have to admit, I’m getting quite the grin out of all the huffing, puffing and righteous indignation coming from the moderators insisting that no talk take place about illegal software distribution and the like.

Come on. At best, it’s highly disingenuous.

Limewire offers a service that enables a HUGE community of software crackers to distribute their pirated programs. This forum is ferociously defended by saying that Limewire has no control over what people distribute. And I’m sure that’s quite true.

But what’s Limewire’s reason for being? People can download music all day long, never paying a cent for music they would otherwise have to pay for. People who have a 1000 song catalog never buy ANY music. And why would they when they can get it for free?

Back in the day, my friends and I used to share our albums and record them to cassettes. It was a laborious, real time process. We were limited by the time needed to baby-sit the recording process. It took a long, long time to develop a 1000 song catalog. You had to really want it. There was some effort involved…and expense (buying cassettes). And there was a practical upward limit.

With Limewire, I could have a 1000 song catalog in a day. Or less. Or fill my hard drive with bootleg programs costing 1000s of dollars.

Everyone knows what Limewire is used for. I know why you try to keep this forum “clean.” But it’s a joke, folks.

It’s like the owner of a singles bar. He knows his joint also attracts the working girls and he lets them do their thing as long as they aren’t blatant about it. He knows the hookers attract patrons and as long as they don’t leave with the guys before they’ve bought a few drinks (read: Limewire’s software fee), they look the other way. When the cops or the morality police raid the place, the owner says (with a straight face) “I don’t support prostitution. What these people do on their own time is their business, not mine.”

I just find it amusing.

Wink, wink, nod, nod.