Sean,
The artist also isn't making any money if the song isn't commercially available. So they aren't getting "further financially penalized." It's not as tho I'm getting something for free that I would otherwise have to pay for. The artist won't realize the missing income if he isn't getting it anyway.

Like I said in my earlier post - show me where I can buy it and I will. The point is that there is no where else to find it. Regarding it not being an artist's fault that the label deletes their catalog - I would MUCH rather pay a performer directly than pay a record store, label, etc.

If there is a way to find out what the royalties for that song are, and an address I can use to get them to Leo, please point me in that direction and I will gladly send him his due. Ditto for the band Gryphon.

In the meantime, I've order CDs from Heather Alexander and Wild Asparagus, and bought some Lefty Frizzell, Traffic, Dave Matthews, Tom Waits, and Michelle Shocked - none (save Traffic) of whom I'd ever heard of until stumbling across them in Napster.

Out of curiosity, if I buy something from a used CD store, does the artist make any money from that sale? If not, is re-selling the CD considered stealing?

Just for the record - I work as a computer programmer and have written quite a bit of shareware. You know, the 'try it for 30 days and then pay for it' kind of software. So I'm fully aware of both ends of the "not being paid for services due" issue.

Sean, it seems like our disagreement is getting a little strong and a bit off-topic (the main point has moved from Napster to a moral/ethical question). I would suggest that rather than cluttering the thread any more, we move to PMs. Do you agree?