Failure as a musician? ;)
That is the first non-joke I have ever read on FR that actually made me spew coffee. And you accused ME of being ignorant.
But I am rationalizing, just as americans rationalized as they drank alcohol during prohibition.
My shower head releases water at a greater-than-government-required-maximum rate as well.
I know you're rationalizing. I already said that. But it's not analogous to prohibition. They weren't stealing someone else's liquor. They were trading in it illegally, just as people do today with drugs. But being part of an illicit transaction where both parties to the transaction are happy is not anything like one person ripping off another, which is what you're doing. But since you don't get to make music for a living, screw em.