Yep,
Spot on Egg.

Media in any shape or form, can be digitized and put on the internet. That is why I am a huge supporter of charging for content via the ISP, for access to any and everything. For example, if you want access to every media, whatever it maybe, you pay a fee to your ISP, and that small fee when multiplied by millions or in the case of China, billions goes to a third party organisation, preferably a non-profit, that then takes and splits the fee equally based on statistics of sales to each and every single artist. Yeah sure some will only get a half cent or less.. but multiply it by billions and you get the point. That way every artist is compensated, and every internet user can enjoy all that there is to enjoy.

I am sure everyone in their right mind would go for this, and if not, you don't have to have access to the internet.

And as well as free content you can have the typical e-stores for those that want the nice packaging, the manuals, the CD covers, etc...

Open source works much like this. Those that pay for it, get the extra stuff. But the fundamental goods are free. I have bought a mandrake Cd boxed for $23 because I wanted the manuals and tech support. It paid for itself a trillion times over.

And I have downloaded Mandrake, Red Hat, Suse, and the other day I nabbed Gentoo.

Freedom of information is the key to the internet. If you start banning, capping, and otherwise limiting the internet, it will fail. People will loose interest, and go back to the same old humdrum daily life. Free access, free information, and freedom are the only true way for the internet to be anything. It should be like a phone directory.. we get it for free, inside are some great deals, and there is access to lots and lots of stores and addresses (sites).

But I have seen artwork on the web and then went to see it in person while paying a nominal fee at a museum or gallery. The experience is 100% black and white. I'd much rather pay for the live experience.

Same with photography, music, television, movies etc...

Though one thing I don't get, is why in the hell television and movies are not an internet related media. Why can television and internet be combined. Like a global TV/Global Internet package all in one. The reason, cable companies will go broke, and ISPs will get rich.. While many cable companies are offering internet they also offer cable TV. If they do both, they get paid more.... by combining it they know they'd lose money..

It would be so convenient to be able to watch a pay per view TV show over the internet, than on a TV. I'd much rather be able to see any show in the world on internet, rather than have my parents tape the shows and send me them in the mail....

I hate the fact that technology is not being used to the fullest to provide the richest experience possible. I don't mind paying for things, in fact I do all the time. What I hate is getting ripped a new azz for things that are not worth what we pay for them.

Like Windows XP, $199 or $299 or whatever you paid for the professional version is too much. There is a reason Bill Gates is the richest man in the world. He is charging too much for the products that MS produce. You don't bankroll BILLIONS while charging a fair price for a good... you only make that much money off of charging too much for a product that costs less to produce than what you sell it for.

Everyone wants to make a profit, myself included. But when is enough, actually enough? You want to talk about pirates, head over to the Corporate Pirate meets like the WTO! Corporate pirates are robbing us blind of our hard earned money, and we are letting them. It is shameful.