Would it be considered piracy...

[geoschmo]

Calling it an issue of personal control completely ignores the recording industries main argument. Which is that they have the right to control the distribution of their product.
Whether you believe they are being shortsighted or not, people have the right to make poor business decisions. You don't have the right to make them for them.

When you make your living off of how many people buy your recordings, then you are naturally going to be opposed to someone distributing copies of those recordings, or enabling the easy distribution of those copies without you receiving compensation for them. Espectially when that person gets compensation for the act in the form of advertising revenue as Napster was doing.

Pointing out the lesser quality of MP3 recordings is really not an issue either. Most (not all, but most) people listen to popular music on car stereos, while they are driving, sitting around the house, out at the beach, etc. While they are doing stuff. It's background music. The lower quality of the recording is insignificant if you are listening to it on a lower quality sound system, or aren't concentrating hard on the music cause you are doing something else while it's playing anyway.

Geoschmo