I'm not a very savvy user and I think most of my sharing peers are in the same boat. I'm a Canadian and it seems to me that the objective of the US and Intn'l anti-P2P regulatory bodies is to scare away potential sharers who don't have the time or skill to know if they are putting themselves at risk by file sharing. This tactic is effective as it is slowly taking the bulk out of the braun of free P2P networks (from what I've been reading in the K-lite forums). Does there exist a site/forum that very QUICKLY allows non-techies to know what soft/hardware to aquire and correctly configure so that they can feel safe from "the man" and crackers while sharing files? I think that this sort of education would be an effective counter-attack against that of the powers that be.
The ultimate goal is, of course, to support those who create music, not those who "distribute". It is after all the information age; large recording companies have long been made obsolete by technology. But like most animals, they refuse to let go of their niche. They use their money to hang on to an environment that no longer has a viable place for them (I wear my Darwinist heart on my sleeve). As a result, the creative process and the enjoyment of its fruition are being damaged. Healthy P2P networks could pave the way for direct and independent support of those who create (imaginatively and technically) the art we all enjoy. Techies, please enlighten the P2P masses!
