Actual Math Applied to An Actual Problem

The New York Times had a quick article from Daniel Gross, who typically writes "Moneybox" for Slate, considering what the true economic effects of illegal music downloading.

Without drawing a final conclusion in terms of dollars, the article reiterated the following points (drawn from academic surveys and professors) that any reasonable person should also be able to arrive at:

1. There has be a loss of some sales due to illegal downloading.


2. Not every download represents a lost sale: the downloader may never have intended to purchase the product at the retail price.


3. Sales have actually gone up even with a high usage of peer-to-peer networks.

[Editor's note: I have returned and will be filing interesting articles/events of note that have occured while I was out of the country.]