You missed my point... the fact that any of it is happening in the first place is abhorrent.
I did read the article. The bit that really hooked me was an obvious truth: The industry has hardly had a chance to develop a system for legitimate online distribution because they are too busy trying to combat illegitimate/illegal online distribution. The result of this was the DRM system that everyone hates so much.
I'm not, in any way, disputing the research that online distribution leads to an increase in sales. You're putting words in my mouth to paint me as some underinformed yokel just because I actually support the entertainment industry [which I am studying to become a part of]. I'm glad that despite the steady decline of work in America, that the average person is working towards eliminating a very large sector. It makes me warm and fuzzy to know that my roommates sitting behind me are degrading my job outlook while I study. Mull that over. If you believe this is the wave of the future, then you'd better start hacking into every single manufacturing/research company and publicly disclosing all of their trade secrets.
The entertainment industry is fighting an increasingly uphill battle, are you really surprised by the tactics necessary?
I also fail to see how any of the practices described in the article are illegal. Raiding the server farm is a reasonable search and seizure on the grounds of the evidence in question being of a transcendant nature. And probable cause obviously exists. As for entrapment, I assume you're referring to the "fake" files? If my understanding of the case history is accurate, and I believe it is, what they are doing is completely legal because the downloaders are clearly predisposed to committing the crime and are not being [repeatedly] solicited to commit the crime, but rather doing so of their own free will and said predisposed nature.
You know what grinds my gears from that article? "The technology is here for us, so why shouldn't we do it?" Why not just say "I have a gun, so why shouldn't I just shoot people I don't like?" It's exactly the same principle.
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