Canadians are going bananas over legalised downloading

Music Industry News is reporting that the recent ruling to legalise downloading has left blood in the water and Canadians are in a feeding frenzy.

Since the Federal Court decision on 31 March, Internet piracy has been rampant. The Tragically Hip, one of Canada's treasured cultural assets, was one of the hardest hit. During a five-week stretch from 30 March to 7 May, there were more than half a million unauthorized attempts to download the new Tragically Hip single, "Vaccination Scar." Overall, during this period, Universal Music reported 2.8 million attempts to illegally download The Tragically Hip's recordings. During the same period fewer than 1,000 copies were purchased legally online.

"The current situation is particularly harmful to Canadian artists as well as the thousands of Canadians whose livelihoods and businesses are linked to music," says Puretracks co-CEO and founder, Alistair Mitchell. "Our political leaders need to stand up for Canada's cultural heritage while we continue our work to build a legal digital download business based on respect for artists' rights."

What do you think? It does seem to indicate that if it is not illegal to download content, that at least short term, or on some works, it can have a devastating impact. The single, Vaccination Scar, was released to radio stations across the country and you could download the legal version online for 99 cents. Yet the public wanted a free version. The only thing troublesome in this story is the claim of only 1000 albums are sold legally online . I would like to know what was sold retail as well, to get the full feeling of this situation.

Source: Music Industry News