Boston.com just ran a fascinating article that shows the vicissitudes of standards, and why they're hard to adopt in a capalistic society. The article is a great read in terms of providing a great overview of the technology behind downloadable music -- as well as the wars to dominate the industry behind that technology.

Sadly, a theme in this article was the notion that because the tech battle makes it so hard for end-users top buy and enjoy music on their players they may be tempted just to steal music. In other words, the POINT of the article is to show that the very nature of the war for download dominance serves as an inducement to piracy. A silly notion. Saying that's the case would be analagous to saying that high-gas prices induce people to steal gas instead of pay for it -- if that's the case, who's to blame (if we can't be responsible for our own actions).

But that silly notion does underly the need for fear about Orrin's INDUCE act becoming law.