File sharing is a problem, robbing artists of the fruits of their labors. When Napster was in its advent, I sampled music for free, spending hours looking for "good copies" of songs -- and finally getting that CD burned. I worked at it because I wanted it.

Perhaps the problem is not that students want music for free, but that we don't want it at all. Consider the basic economic concept of supply and demand. There is little demand for a CD when its one quality song is played every 20 minutes on the radio. Napster enabled the public to listen to a wide variety of music. Burning CDs, rather than buying them, is simply an economic decision. Two hours of work on the computer or $20? Twenty hard-earned, Dairy Queen counter-waitress dollars? Try $5 for a CD I know I want, and then you've got a deal. That, Mr. RIAA, is a lesson in economics.

Now that Napster is "controlled," students are being force-fed the same crap that is on every conglomerate-owned radio station and the 24-hour infomercial that is MTV. I am not buying CDs, nor do I know what I would like to buy. Unless I want to go to the music store and put on those huge headphones, like the guys at the airport wear to look for some original music, I'm stuck.

Our desire for music is not being met by the industry's supply. Shape up, or we'll all ship out.