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1. The labels should be offering their own subscription p2p services, as Ashley suggested. I think it hurts their case that there is no legal alternative to kazaa or winmx. I think 0.99 per song is way too much though, should be more like 0.20 per song. They should also allow free downloads or some kind of credit to people who buy CDs and artist merchandise. Whether or not I would use such a service would depend largely on the selection available. I want access to every song ever recorded, not a limited library chosen by the RIAA.
2. Even if there is a legal network people are still going to be trading files illegally. A dozen new clients will start up for every soulseek or direct connect they shut down. Another possibility is a some kind of tax on broadband internet services, equipment like cd burners and mp3 players, and blank media. The revenue collected would be distributed to the recording industry (I guess the movie, software, and other industries would want in on this too) to compensate them for their losses. However I think implementing a tax like this would be more controversial and complex than the legal cases RIAA is about to bring against file-sharers.
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