By home recording are you referring to TV shows and movies? Those are paid for by commercials, which is different. Those are MEANT to be free, which is why you pay for cable in the first place. Either that or sit through commercials. (Gotta love TiVo and other DVR boxes!)
As for illegal music downloading, it's a bit different. You can download and burn a CD that is 100% just as good as the $14 version from the store, minus the jewel case and CD art.
As for illegal MOVIE downloading, all this is going to do is promote more product placement in movies to make up for lost profits.
As far as I'm concerned, lack of quality music is not a legit argument. If it's worth downloading and listening to, it's worth buying.
HOWEVER, I do agree that if it lacks quality, you should be able to at least sample it first to see if you want to buy it. No, the right way to do this is not by downloading, but I think artists should all make at least 30-60 seconds of each song on their album available to sample on their website so people can make an educated decision when making their purchase.
There have been many times when I would buy a CD for one song, only to find out later that that is the only good song on the entire CD. That's what iTunes and other online music store websites have as a great selling point.
I could go on and on, but really it's not an issue of whether or not you think music/movie/software pirating is ok or not. The truth of the matter is that it is illegal and you can face extreme penalties if caught.
I met a guy at CompUSA the other day as I was BUYING some expensive software. We got into talking about his friend who is currently serving year 2 out of a 10 year jail sentence for software pirating. He'll have 2 years probation after he is released. If he even touches a computer during his 10 year sentence, or during his probation he can get in further trouble.
If you can't afford it, go without. That's why I don't drive a Dodge Viper.
