Mick....obviously, I do not side with CH on this, as I INTEND to remain as moral and legal as I can figure out..(I wonder where Clinton had that gland removed, and whether part of the brain was included in the surgery...*grin*)...but neither do I think it is quite as simple as you'd like to make it...

many years ago, I was given a taped copy of a Folk Legacy LP, because I didn't even HAVE a record player...(and was poor..*grin*)...several years later, Sandy Paton came to the Getaway with records, and I bought THAT record and several more...both because I wanted a 'hard copy' and because I now had a player and some money!...Now...what if Sandy hadn't been there, or I hadn't been there...or I had remained poor. I always intended to buy the record if I had the chance..(basic honesty)...so should I have asked myself, "Should I be paying for this?" when I got the tape, and therefore refused it? And how long should I keep that tape before erasing it, if I never got the LP?...and...and... maybe there are better hypotheticals, but you get the idea.

I see your point about the difference bewteen allowing some to watch a movie with me, and copying the movie to give them a copy, ...but what about allowing them to watch it on THEIR VCR while YOU have it rented? Maybe it is only watched once by each person, no matter how many copies are made, so the ultimate outcome is the same as if "fair use"
were followed...You can easily define what is obviously illegal, and what is 'legal'...but some situations just don't fit neatly. If the matter ends up in a court, a decision WILL be reached based on some interpretation of whatever law is in force, but I *honestly* don't know whether I morally "should be paying for" an odd file I see on my PC. Sometimes I don't KNOW how to pay for it, and I don't want to wait months to hear it when a twitch of my finger will allow me to hear it now.

I repeat...I do NOT indulge in "album theft" and I do not post files for others....it sure feels 'gray' to me...