I have never seen so many incorrect and downright stupid statements in one place. First, let me start off by saying that I used to be big in the file sharing world. I worked for a long time helping with the open source Napster protocol project (
http://opennap.sourceforge.net). I ran an opennap server that had thousands of users on it at any given time.
You sharing music with everyone is NOT "your damn business." It's theft, plain and simple. Fortunately the legal system agrees. People don't view digital media as property but it most certainly is.
Music, like porn costs money to produce therefore it can not and should not be free. It should never be up to the consumer to decide if they pay for it or not. Can I go to a car dealership, take a car but never pay for it because I don't feel it's "worth the money"? Absolutely not. If you want the car, you will pay for it. Music and porn should be the same way.
Everything takes money to produce and therefore takes money to purchase. Invest a little money, get returns on your investment. The greater the return, the better. That's the way business works. Record companies are free to set their own prices. If you don't feel the music is worth the money, you shouldn't get the music.
Almost all of the musicians that wanted their music on Napster were generally unknown artists who were trying to get their names out. Most big names were not in favor of having their new album that isn't released to the public for another two weeks available on Napster for free.