So, the long, dark drink is 250 today.

Check out this informative and stimulating post from a website called Christ and Pop Culture:

What can you learn from a 250 year old drink?

You may be surprised…

David Dunham at CaPC poses the question “So is the judge making an example out of her or does this seem like a reasonable price to pay?”

I started commenting but realised it was too long and so I’ve moved my response here.

Let’s start by saying that these fines are supposed to be representative of lost sales.

Forget the fact that many people who download music tracks wouldn’t buy them anyway (and – shockingly – might even delete the crap ones).

What I think the lawmakers have glossed over is the fact that if you fine one person for *every* *lost* *sale*, then there should be no-one left to pursue for the downloading of those tracks she shared. Ie. if I had downloaded those 24 tracks from Jamie Thomas, it’s OK because she is already paying for *my* lost sale – as well as – literally – millions of others.

I’m pro-filesharing and I file-share.

I look forward to the day that these media companies grovel in the dirt – I’ll make no bones about that fact. Increasingly I’m ‘coming out’ to many friends and people I wouldn’t have before, because I see it as a revolution, a cold war, where as many people need to be recruited as possible.

I look forward to the day that we look back on these events in history and marvel at the ignorance of the politicians and industry that supported this 21st Century ‘House of Un-American Activities’.

I see filesharing as the future – setting knowledge, information and arts free – like they used to be before the 20th Century. Perhaps it’s not ‘the future’, perhaps it’s simply restoring values of the past.

Did any of those black slaves or their families who worked in the cotton fields see a ‘dime’ for their musical contribution to the blues? Intellectual Property is about as anti-creativity as I can imagine.

How do you prevent new ideas and human progress? Introduce ownership of ideas by long lasting corporate bodies to buy up and own *ideas*, then sue anyone who independently thinks up, tries to share or improve that idea for an arm and a leg.

Technorati Tags: jamie thomas, filesharing, copyright, christ and pop culture, morality, ethics, mafiaa, riaa, download, revolution, music, freedom, future, past, slaves, truth, corporates, progress, ideas

Check out some great videos on interesting topics:

1. Desiring God talks with pastor Thabiti Anyabwile on Christian rap.  Great little interview that’s only a couple of minutes long but offers good perspective.  If you’re not familiar with Thabiti, you should be–he is an exceptional preacher and Christian leader.

2. The Catholic pro-life league has produced a moving 40 second video about the importance of giving all babies a chance to live.  The ending will surprise you.

3. This isn’t a video, it’s a discussion at the provocative website Christ and Pop Culture on Christian rap.  The article is well-done, and the comments include a ton of interesting discussion.  Check out the insightful comments made by Ahred, a Christian rapper.  Pontifex and Ahred get into an informative discussion in those comments, with Pontifex asking some good questions.  The main issue is, “Why is there so little exceptional Christian hip hop?”

So there you go.