Found on Scripting News:

News.com: "We have a generation of computer jockeys that we've raised on Napster and MP3 who have gotten the idea, the mistaken idea, that everything in the store is free," King said. "And I'd like to see if we can't reeducate these people to the idea that the fruits of talent cost you money." (King == Stephen King)

I made a similar point a couple of weeks ago during the Napster discussion here. I also daydreamed about the kind of Napster service I want to use -- one that compensates users for making songs available online, a commission funded by a nominal per-song fee.

I don't know that Stephen King charging for his new book a chapter at a time on the honour system has much to do with the Napster-syndrome, but I find it interesting that he makes the point.

Addendum: Jeff Kandt wrote an amazing proposal for secure MP3 distribution on Hack the Planet. As Wes said, very well-thought out.

It's late right now, after midnight, so I'm not thinking clearly enough any more to figure out whether or not Jeff is describing a "p2p" distribution network or a "b2c" distribution network. (My guess is the latter)

I like the idea of a p2p network that compensates end-users for their hard-drive space and bandwidth, but hey that's just me. :-) I bet Jeff's proposal could accomodate that.

Glossary:

p2p: person to person

b2c: business to client (or customer)