In my opinion, a "buycott" isn't going to change anything. But it won't hurt to let artists know they'll get rewarded for supporting a new distribution channel.

Honestly, I don't have the answer to how the artists will be fairly compensated in this model. But I do know that tools like Napster are "disintermediating," which means that they're helping to remove the intermediaries (ah, that's the "music industry," isn't it?). And I do know that most musicians don't make a ton off their work now, so Napster-like file sharing might increase their exposure substantially. My uninformed gut feel (and remember, I'm not much of a music consumer) is that only the brand-name artists will feel an impact. Yet, there's another thought. Folks who might never have heard a particular artist's music might hear it, and some new customers might be created.

And now you know why there's a debate.

One thing to keep in mind: this isn't just a battle over Napster or music. With higher bandwidth, we'll soon be easily sharing video, software, books, and any other digitized media. In some future years, we'll have huge hard drives that can store hundreds of DVD-quality movies. Those can be Napsterized as well. And what about TV shows? I'd sure like to see more Babylon 5 or Crusade. Might this be a way to get those producers an audience and a revenue stream? And then there are ebooks. This technology can easily allow users to download any ebook from anywhere, and our bandwidth today can more than handle it.

So, in conclusion, new mediums require new ways of thinking about revenue. It's possible that this form of distribution-busting disintermediation is so unaffected by law and copyrights that natural selection will devalue digital content. But I don't think so. I'd still pay my lump of gold for the next real Tom Clancy novel, and I'd bet you'd pay for the entertainment you really value.

Watch this stuff. It's not just about music. It's a battle for the media of the 21st Century.

Gregory Lea is a Product Manager for Werner Ladder Company in Greenville, PA. He has been a Windows CE user for two years. Greg has an MS in Material Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Metallurgical Engineering from University of Missouri, Rolla. He can be contacted via email at leagg@wernerco.com.