Well put Lee.

The cheapest, easiest way to get free music is still to shoplift it from your nearest superstore. Yes, the big music companies are cynically profiteering and deserve to be brought down a peg or two, but demanding that P2P technologies legitimise copyright infringement to do so is unreasonable.

P2P has great potential to *allow* copyright holders to cheaply make their unwanted material free to others - for example marginal or outdated television series that are not commercially viable, or back-catalogues of unpublished/unpublishable music. However, unless the networks offer legitimate content there is a great danger they'll be shut down, denying us all this opportunity.

Sadly, the public perception of P2P networks as a means of teenagers to get free music is rapidly becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. The efforts of those trying to encourage a more healthy balance of content on the gnet should be applauded as it's their effort that will determine if it has a future or not.