Unfortunately, attempts by the industry to prevent and criminalize various actions that fall squarely within the realm of fair use (e.g. ripping of CDs to hard disk in order to convert them to MP3s) are reality, not fantasy. The same is true of industry attempts to gain a legal license to hack computers and a legal prohibition on devices that do not incorporate rights-restriction technologies.
Sorry, but these actions have reduced my respect for even their legitimate bootlegging concerns to the same level as my respect for the national sovereignty of Afghanistan (as of October 2001).
Either you're naive or being disingenuous. How many people ripping to MP3 are doing so only for their own use instead of file swapping? I've heard several kids bragging about copying their CDs and selling them to friends for two or three bucks. That's criminal and they ought to be prosecuted.
Should we do nothing and send the message to these kids that breaking the law isn't that serious and depriving someone of their rightful income is OK?
I have no problem with fair use provisions. I do have a problem with wanton copyright violation.