So the RIAA is going to sue individuals who upload copyrighted music to the net. Frankly, I think this is a great thing, despite its sheer boneheadedness. Why? Because it will spawn the creation and use of encrypted p2p apps. And maybe (help me out, Lazy Web), it will result in a p2p app that:
1. Allows you to flag a work as “copyrighted” or “non-copyrighted” in the metadata.
2. Has a good evaluation/recommendation engine.
If those two bits were in place, one could search for highly-rated, non-copyrighted music, and share with impunity. Plus, it would introduce thousands to the good, non-corporatized stuff, making it easier to find and distribute. The problem with Gnutella, Kazaa, etc. is that it’s based on the idea that we’re passive consumers of music, instead of encouraging production. Let a thousand flowers bloom.