Copy protection, content usage rights, fair use, p2p downloading and other things that are debated now indicate that there is a big problem with the current system.
For example when CDs first appeared it was very expensive to make them, they offered a superior quality and it was very difficult to copy then without loosing that quality. That would justify high prices then, but now it is a very different picture. Manufacturing CDs costs next to nothing, duplicating it (songs) at home is very easy.
So they (content owners) claim that the high cost mostly represent the cost of actual content and not the cost of the media. But if that is the case why do I have to pay for the content many times? And I (and all the people who buy music and movies) do pay for it many times now, when I watch a movie in Movie Theater, when I buy it on VHS, on DVD etc. Also if I want to buy it on high definition DVD I will have to pay a big premium. I think it is way unfair and those big lobbying studios just using their muscles to rip off consumers by creating unfair draconian laws. So it is not a surprise that people do not like it, and they fight it they way they can, but "stealing" it. But in many many cases it is not really a theft, it is a fair use, but current skewed regulations make it illegal.
I have a very sensible proposition - separate purchasing of the content usage right and media.
There should be a big database where people can register and track what content they own. This should be maintained by some independent organization or consortium of copyright holders. So each copyrighted piece of content would have its own ID and I (the consumer) would have a way to identify what I already purchased. And when I already own something I just have to pay for the media or duplicate it myself. Stores will be able to sell movies and charge for media only if I can prove that I already obtained the right to use the content. Alternatively they can also sell both. Such verification process will be done buy integrating the store and aforementioned database. Players will also have to support, so I would have to add my ID, so the content can be played. It should be possible to have something like a portable ID key that I could use on temporary use devices.
Of course it will take some time to set such system to work well, but I think if we would try to go in that direction if few years it will be a lot better situation than now.
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