If The Music’s That Bad, Why Pay For It?

When a Minnesota woman was convicted this week of illegally downloading and distributing music, it marked a major victory for the recording industry in its battle to control copyright. But what songs, exactly, was Jammie Thomas stealing? “Her playlist — the copyright-infringed songs she’s now paying for, at the cost of $9,250 each — tells another story. And it’s a sad one about the impoverished state of the corporate music machine.”