as for wiping a harddrive, you are better off smashing the discs with a freaking hammer.
the FBI can retrieve data that has been through a 3 pass 1\0 wipe (as far as i know) there was a tech TV episode where they had "disk destroyers" and the one used by the US govt' was basically a plate where the disc sits, and a cylander with a bunch of spikes that rotates in a circle and on its X axis, and just tears the hell out of the side of the disk.
there was a minimum of 15 spins for it to be allowed to thrown into the garbage. this was for regular CD. imagine what they do with a harddisk... id imagine theyd turn that magnet to dust with some kind of pulvarizer thing.
as for music being already "paid" for. does it matter? lets say i steal candy. then share it. you eat stolen candy. and thats wrong. lets say somone paid for the candy. and then shared it. the owner lost his candy, and you now have the candy. this is all fine and good, because the place that sold the candy made the money from what you just ate. *BUT* in the record buisness, if somne bought a CD and gave you a "COPY" its a duplication of the origional, therefore the owner has not lost his copy of the CD (as the owner of the candy did) and you now have it also, therefore the record company lost the sale of the record to YOU, and lost their $18, and you have the CD for the cost of the disc.
i agree that 15~18 is a rediclious sum of money for a disc that costs 2 cents to manufacture, 2 cents to stamp, and a case\pamphlet that costs 10 cents to print.
and maybe 2 dollars out of the 18 goes to the musician. folley.
im not going to prech to you or anyone else here. but the company that is selling that product is not making money when you DUPLICATE their product. when it comes to things you cant duplicate, such as candy, its ok and dandy because the origional purchaser lost his\her product. but when you both get the product and pay once. thats where they are loosing money, and upping the prices for the CD's for llammah people who dont know what they are doing.
ive been in the scene for a few years now, and i know how it all works on the 0-second. i had a buddy who was a 0sec courrier for 10 or 15 groups. one of them got busted, good thing that he was on vacation that week. or the cops of been at his door too. all the people that were around got arrested\fined\jailed(hosters mainly)..
i believe there was nigh on a terabyte or more of music confiscated.
now, believe what you will, but when you download music. you are duplicating an origional, and that IS stealing.
it is my oppinion that if you get caught stealing, you should be punished\fined\confiscated. at most, if you are just a simpleton downloading, they should delete it all, rather than having court fees- and lawsuits imo.
good luck getting sued tho guy. i bet you will loose (if this is real).
