Authorities coming down hard on people who download pirated music, and the local filesharing scene takes a hit. IRC channels which used to be filled with file servers and their users are now muted and relatively devoid of chatters and activity. While this might come as a blow to those of you who download music indiscriminately on a regular basis, I feel that it 's a good thing for genuine music lovers (who are hopefully also the ones who buy original music) and the way music should be shared.

Let me explain myself. Remember a long time ago (for those of you who grew up in the 70s and 80s) when sharing music meant arduous hours of popping casette tapes in and out of tape recorders to put together a desired compilation ? I don't suppose the humble casette tape is going to ever make a return, with CDRWs being the de facto standard in almost every new PC nowadays. Having IMs like ICQ and MSN also means that for sharing of small files, or most often just a track or two, the physical component of sharing music can even be done away with altogether.

Sharing music once again takes meaningful purpose on the part of the person sharing the music. If rampant music piracy can be construed as the whoring of music by its cold assembly line efficiency, then the turn of events now would mean going back to how sharing music ought to be - the sharing of a common love, the weaving of one of the many strings that bind people to those they love and care about.

The standard disclaimer applies. Share music all you want, but don't get caught, and if you like what you hear, buy the CD. And mayhaps tell someone else about it. 8)

peace,
eric.