An explosion has happened at FSM...

Well of course they agree, it's their job to. We aren't studios though.

First, I just want to make clear that I'm not saying the effects of downloading are overall positive. What I'm saying is that there are both negative and positive factors to take into account, and the overall effects aren't easy to determine.

On to your questions:

I think there has been a huge fear from the beginning that downloading would cause the end of music purchasing altogether. I can kind of understand this thinking, because "if you can download the entire product for free, why spend money on it?". It turns out that the fears were wrong. People who download for free also purchase music. The people who download the most also purchase the most. It seems counterintuitive, but that's how reality turned out. Apparently people want the physical, professionally produced products.

It will probably take decades, and some influential studies, before the major music companies will realize that it's not the end of the world. As it is now, the fear exists, and major companies find the evidence they expect by pointing at correlations between music downloading and music purchasing, without even considering whether there is a causal link. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but there seem to be so much emotion and bias involved now that no one ever seem to stop to think "hey, what if we're wrong?". Now, it seems they're in a panic, trying to slow down the inevitable end of the world, as they see it, by spreading misinformation and changing laws.

Peter

The main delaying factor is that the studios still haven't come up with a viable program to actually make (even more) money out of this trend. And THAT's the main concern. They have no control over this aspect.
That's a big reason to stick with the hypothetical damage idea: at least it gives them something to work with.

Shariah Copyright Law Violations: first they put a burka over your head, then they cut if off.

Indeed. One of the few boards where people can have a rationel discussion about this subject, without getting into emotional and accusational flame wars. Reading the thread on FSM is like stepping into a soap opera; I've never seen so much drama before in my life.

Peter

I couldn't read through the thread at FSM

Even without clicking the link, that is already the best post in the history of this board or any other.
So I will not click the link and ruin the experience.

Something struck me about this when I was looking at the recent review posted here. I was wondering what the function of reviews of promotional releases were when they are not available for the general film music listener? Anyone wanting to hear this would either have to contact the composer (in this case Mac Styran) or download the title from somewhere (or have it shared by the original reviewer). Would that be illegal?

In the case of promotional discs does the composer want the music to be shared? A lot of promotional discs say that they are not for sale so the people producing them don't want them sold but can they be freely shared?

I love how Americans so often tend to take their national laws as globally applicable ...

The world police.

If I wasn't so attached to my job I would leave this ridiculous country in a heartbeat.

But alas, I choose to continue to contribute to the ridiculousness.

At a guess, it doesn't matter where the music was produced, it only matters where the file is hosted and where the downloader lives. (I suspect laws around this stuff are fairly similar in most countries, though enforcement varies.)

Some Americans

Sleeping kitten indeed...