Striking a sour note

The Buffalo (N.Y.) News: A decision by the Recording Industry Association of America to go after music fans who trade songs on the Internet is, by one important yardstick, understandable. It is not right to take anyone's work and distribute it for free without permission.
But we would have more sympathy for the companies had they shown a bit more enlightenment in their response to Internet technology and file sharing in the first place.
Had the industry initially focused its attention on establishing legal downloading sites and charged reasonable rates, it might have avoided much of the problem. It's no secret that people want to get something for nothing, but the recording industry should have at least tried to market its product to the audience it's now fighting.
Look at the success of the Apple iTunes Music Store, which has sold 5 million songs in two months at 99 cents each. It proves there is a market for music sales on the Internet.
It's hard to blame any industry for taking measures to keep its product from being pirated. But in this case, there may have been a better way to do it. It's too bad the recording industry didn't try marketing before it turned to litigation.