[discostu]

What's the bounds for how many people you can give it to before it becomes bootlegging?

[eno_]

That's a fuzzy boundary. Fair use is not codified. It is a doctrine. If I give music away to hundreds of people I don't know, without having a reason to do it, it may violate the law, and it is arguably tortious, too. But if I do not profit from my generosity, neither is it the traditional definition of "piracy" - which is usually a for-profit activity. This is the crux of the DRM controversy. Today's IP violations usually do not have a profit motive.

Piracy for profit is clearly out of bounds, and always should be. On that we can agree. It is also easier to find: If is generates big profits, there is a bank account somewhere that can be siezed.

Where we part ways is this: I find the security of my documents and the ability to operate a machine I own as I see fit more important than anyone else's ability to profit from IP in the face of not-for-profit sharing, especially if the only way to stop that sharing is to install Big Brother Inside, even if it means the end of the RIAA and it's constituents.