Technological innovations have always influenced the ways in which music is made and consumed in societies. Now that music has entered the digital realm a new revolution is underway. The near perfect duplication facilitated by digital technology in conspiracy with the ease of exchange provided by the Internet threaten to render copyright law into a redundant relic, while at the same time changing the way in which millions across the globe listen to music. A new music culture has been born –driven by technology advances, hindered only by copyright law.
The combination of the Internet and digital technology presents copyright law with what has been described as a digital dilemma. The availability of digital music in the form of MP3s has allowed for songs and albums to be easily compressed into manageable digital file sizes while maintaining very high audio fidelity. Millions of individuals across the world have created MP3s by „ripping‟ music albums into digital files of this format and made them available to others in cyberspace. Millions of others have searched for and downloaded these tracks without having to go a bricks –and –mortar retail establishment and purchase them on CD, and have shared them widely through online transfers and by burning them on recordable CDs.3Digital copy of Ph.D thesis.University of Kashmir
