An excellent opinion piece in the SMH on copyright: Copyright distorts the market - smh.com.au There's been a lot of coverage lately about music being downloaded from the internet. This has been going on for years but now the Recording Industry Association of America has given the matter a much higher profile by prosecuting individuals and giving great publicity to the fact.

Events since I wrote those words have only served to reinforce my views. The actions of the RIAA and the record companies are the desperate acts of an industry based on a superseded business model attempting to hold back the tides of history. They will fight all the way, and they will win the odd battle, but they will lose the war.

Copyright is not the natural order of things. It was invented only some 300 years ago to protect printers - not writers. And it remains a means to protect the near-monopolistic rights of music companies, publishers and software houses. It distorts the market and is a barrier, not a boon, to creativity.