Music downloaders are facing possible jail time in Australia. The country passed amendments to their copyright laws which now allow criminal prosecutions for copyright infringements. The three men, ages 20 and 19, plead guilty to the charges although it is unclear whether the record industry there will ask the court to mete out prison sentences. Slight snag for the record companies though: the guys did not charge anything for the file sharing.

In the US a lack of profit-making does not prevent successful criminal prosecutions. Amendments to federal copyright laws in 1997 made piracy a criminal offense even if there was no monetary gain. Last year, at least six music downloaders were handed five year prison sentences. Despite the media's bizzare tendency to make this group sound like a cult ("And their world is highly structured, with a strict hierarchy and rules." according to one New York Times article), we all know that most guilty parties are just averages schmos.

On a more serious note, the lack of profit-making shouldn't be overlooked. Music piracy is not like stealing physical property; my use of a song does not prevent your use of it. These men probably couldn't have charged much even if they wanted to because media files are readily available. Moreover music downloading is so ubiquitous that it seems even inappropriate for the law to prosecute such activity. Moreover, the music industry's campaign against individual downloaders only fuels more resentment and piracy.