[Bennett]

Perhaps my first points were irrelevant, and I definitely have no way to prove it. It does seem to me, however that there is some correlation between the advent of file-sharing technology and the way that the industry has been managed in recent years. I am sure that there are other factors.

I still disagree with what you see as the bigger problem. Sure it is easier for companies to take action against sharers, but look at the amount of mp3's that people in this thread have admitted to having. The extent of file-sharing is huge. Imagine the effort it would take for one of those people to amass that amount of songs onto dubbed tapes. First you would have to know someone who has the desired song/album, and with most people saying they only take stuff they wouldn't buy, it doesn't seem likely that it would be very easy.

Yes, I was around in the 80s, and I don't remember there being anything of this scale. With the ease, extent and availability of file-sharing, there is just no way that I can see copying cds as a larger problem to the music industry.