On Thu, 4 Jul 2002, Sampo Syreeni wrote:

But try constructing an Independence Day without Will Smith. Or the special effects. Or the soundtrack. Or the distribution chain. Try guaranteeing that it arrives on schedule without making a loss.

Luckily movie industry will not be hit by the free distribution as bad as music industry. This is because a major portion of their money comes from people going to cinema to see the movies. They don't do that because they don't have a copy at home, but because they wish to see it in a big screen with awsome sound effects. And that is something we just don't have yet in every house - and something that will be a big investment for a long time. And digitilizing will reduce movie makers costs for transferring the movies to the theaters as well, giving them another edge there. That allows one to go for a global premiers and gather enough payers in the first week to pay for the movie. Now music industry has concentrated in bringing music to peoples homes, and they will be in trouble when people start getting all their music from internet for free. There are nice ways of getting around this as well, as some have pointed around - market will provide... -- Mikko "One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all And in the Darkness bind them."