The problem exists with trying to sell non-rival digital goods as if the ability to freely copy and share them doesn't exist. This can't really be done without alienating legitimate users or draconian government measures. Making free exact copies and instant distribution is one of the best parts of digital goods, but it clashes with the current system.
Rather than try and legislate their relevance, I think the entertainment industry needs to find alternate sources of income and adapt to the system. Whether this means becoming more service oriented (with convenient streaming based subscriptions) or focusing on theaters and merchandise, but something needs to change.
Non-commercial, non-profit file sharing should be legal (having it be a felony is just ridiculous) and it doesn't make sense to try and control the web to restrict what a technology is good at. Unfortunately this issue starts with fixing copyright - which at the moment seems to be impossible.
Those first two sentences of yours capture the essence of the trouble we're in. That idea -- that trying to control information in the same way that we control physical things is fraught with ethical and legal peril -- needs to be said over and over again in these discussions.
Rather than try and legislate their relevance, I think the entertainment industry needs to find alternate sources of income and adapt to the system. Whether this means becoming more service oriented (with convenient streaming based subscriptions) or focusing on theaters and merchandise, but something needs to change.
Non-commercial, non-profit file sharing should be legal (having it be a felony is just ridiculous) and it doesn't make sense to try and control the web to restrict what a technology is good at. Unfortunately this issue starts with fixing copyright - which at the moment seems to be impossible.