Pirating

Should I pay for music and DVD's or not? It is so easy to use programs like Kazaa to access billions of music tracks and video sitting on users computers around the world, but would I do that rather than put money in the pockets of those deserving song writers and artists?

Well, I must confess that many moons ago I did in fact use Kazaa (with Black Ice to block all those nasty little hacker types trying to drop code on to my PC!). And in truth I did download a number of tracks that I didn't own (since rectified with respective purchases for those tracks I wanted to keep, and deletion for those I didn't!). But what changed my mind was not so much the morality of illegally downloading software, but the acquisition of my iPOD. iTunes is a wonderful piece of software allowing me to easily manage my music, listen to radio and podcasts and of course, buy music at lower prices than on the high street.

In fact I find iTunes an even more compelling argument than Windows Media Player which (like IE7) I find confusing. I did however transition from Kazaa to HMV online, but their digital media tool was dreadfully slow and I found I couldn't play them on my iPod.

So I am now a good boy, and have spent lots of money on iTunes, doing the right thing. But what of all those millions of people who still download illegally? Who knows and who cares! I am a happy iPodder!