Disinfo.com
Posted by HAL9000 1 day 3 hours ago
Jacqui Cheng, arstechnica:

Noncommercial file sharing should be legal in Norway, according to the Norwegian Minister of Education. Bård Vegar Solhjell wrote in a blog post last week that file sharing is not only a great way to discover new music, but that "there is no future in fighting" against file sharing services.

"All previous technology advances have led to fears that the older format to die. But TV did not kill radio, the Web did not kill the book, and the download is not going to kill music," wrote Solhjell. He goes on to note that artists should still get paid for their work, and discusses the ad-supported revenue model for streaming music that has worked for radio for so long.

When it comes to illegal downloads, however, Solhjell says that those fighting it will only waste their resources. "This means that less resources is used for printing, transport and music shops. It is money that can go to the artists."