Musicians offer Download Compromise
by grfxguy
A Canadian agency representing musicians has proposed that everybody who has broadband internet (dialup is exempt...who has dialup anymore anyways?) pay an additional monthly $5 fee for unlimited music downloads. The catch? The fee applies to everybody, including those who don't download music. Naturally, people are opposed.
While details of the plan are sketchy, the gist is that you could download as much music as you please (purchased or shared) per month without fear of lawsuits. The $5 fee added up over the entire country would equal in the area of $500-$900 million annually for the artists.
Personally, I think this is an excellent compromise. The artists are saying "Ok, we can't get away from this, so what can we do about it?" By offering a relatively cheap out for the consumer, they've shown that they're willing to compromise while giving the industry a much needed boost.