The problem of the false dilemma

Ask an entertainment company executive or an American politician about the problem of file-sharing and intellectual property rights and you'll get a classic false dilemma response That is, that file-sharing inherently enables copyright violation and therefore must be stopped, lest the entertainment business suffer ad inifinitem.

The great Matthew Yglesias points to a study concluding that file-sharing does result in fewer album sales, that file-sharing allows less popular artists to earn a greater market share and that the "gain to society" resulting from file-sharing is worth three times the loss of sales to record companies.

Why is this relevant (the last point in particular)? Contrary to what your favourite D.C. lobbyist might suggest, copyright laws, as spelled out in the U.S. Constitution, exist to ensure competition. In other words, to protect the consumer from monopolies and a lack of meaningful choice. Copyright was envisioned to promote innovation by allowing providers to secure the rights to their product for a limited time, not to give music business executives a handy excuse for developing an untenable business model.