It's a big deal now because now they have the capability to stop you, or at least try to. When personal CD recording first became technologically and financially feasible, the record companies spent several years making the claim that "What we're worried about is perfect digital copies, not those lesser-quality dupes you get a home tape deck." Then, of course, MP3 trading started to take off, almost 100% of which (at the time) was of relatively mediocre-quality files; back then most people were still using dialup, so the extra quality of a 320k MP3 weren't considered worth the time it took to upload and download. What happened? The RIAA went after them too at the first opportunity.
Lying and generally-sleazy business practices are practically required genetic traits in the record business; it's the big reason why so few people have any moral qualms about file trading. As evidence, look to the movie industry by comparison: When a movie studio puts out a DVD, they go out of their way to make it worth buying: Far better video quality than you'll get on TV (non-HDTV anyway), tons of deleted scenes and bonus features, etc., all in a package that usually costs less than a single CD. All you get with a CD is (with a few exceptions here and there) liner notes, and often not even that. And then they try to soak you for as much as $19 for the "privilege". And of that $19 (for a CD and packaging that costs about 50 cents to produce), the artist may see 75 cents to a dollar of that, if they're lucky (and they usually aren't; most non-superstar artists end up making practically nothing, and sometimes even end up owing the record company money). All the artist's cash comes from concerts.
Now keep in mind that most record companies and movie studios are owned by the same few media conglomerates. Sony Studios gives you great, inexpensive DVDS, while Sony Records tries to screw you to the wall. Q.E.D.
Hell, for nineteen bucks, you're lucky if there's more than two tracks on that CD that are even worth listening to.
And that's coming to an end. EMI started the precedent by paying Robbie Williams (extremely popular in Europe) millions up front for a percentage of his concert proceeds. This will eventually filter down, so that part of the standard signing contract will be a take from the concerts. The labels are always looking for a better way to screw the artists, and this is a good one.
BTW, if you like racing, see the video for song "Supreme." They did a bit like Forrest Gump, digitally placing him in clips as if he was in the running for the F1 World Championship against 60s Jackie Stewart. Excellent video.