Say what? Napster has new commercials using a tagline, "Own nothing. Have everything." Lenin (not the one from the Beatles), would be pleased. What exactly is the appeal of paying money every month for something you used to be able to listen to anywhere, anytime and not getting to keep it?!? If Napster manages to make money on this, I have seriously overestimated the intelligence of today's youth.

Taking a page from Steven Levitt's "Freakonomics", the music industry needs to find ways to decrease the cost of downloadable music that protects copyrights, while increasing the cost for downloading unlicensed music. Clearly, suing alleged "pirates" is an attempt to raise the cost of downloading. Still, the RIAA seems to focus too much on the stick and not enough on the carrot. Why not provide CD's that act as "dongles" or as a key to online content that can only be accessed if the CD is in the drive? I'm sure there are myriad privacy issues with it; still, someone ought to be able to figure this one out to drive down the "costs" of legal downloads. That way, artists win, consumers actually get to exercise their right to "fair use," and record companies get to stay in business. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm an idealist that way sometimes.  ¶ 11:31 PM