A few weeks back while I was still on my official vacation, I was doing what any normal Canadian does while visiting Los Angeles, which was laying down beside the pool with a large Wild Turkey bourbon on ice in my hand (my third), reading a magazine and truly soaking up the warm sunshine and atmosphere.

I was staying at my old friend Paul's house, which is actually a rather large gated property which includes a enormous swimming pool, recording studio, guest house, guest bungalow and numerous other amenities which I can only dream of one day even being able to afford to even rent.

Paul, who I went to school with, ended up being fortunate & talented enough to follow his dreams in life and started a band a number of years ago and has been rather successful from the start. His success has transpired into a very luxurious life style for himself and his wife, which on occasion I have been able to enjoy whenever I have had an opportunity to visit.

So anyway, on this beautiful afternoon I was just relaxing by the pool waiting while Paul and his band were finishing up practising in their studio, when I came across an article in a magazine about illegal music downloading of MP3's, etc.

As someone who considers himself a "responsible downloader", (i.e. an individual who downloads and then purchases the CD or only downloads stuff they already own on tape or vinyl, etc), I really have no problem with the this practise of downloading as it is very convenient and I assume that the majority of folks who do this are also responsible.

As I tossed the magazine aside muttering to myself how foolish the practise of charging people for downloading music illegally is, I looked up to see Paul and his band all coming over and sitting down to join me.

We spoke on a number of general subjects and as I was just pouring myself another very tasty and refreshing bourbon, the topic of downloading music over the internet came up.

If anyone ever advises you to "know your audience" before giving a talk or volunteering an opinion, I would strongly recommend that you heed their words as in looking back now, it would have been a much wiser and safer choice for me to have remained silent on the topic.

Forgetting that I was talking to five established career musicians who make a large portion of their livelihood on album sales, I foolishly and boldly blurted out that "I have no problem with the practise of downloading music off the internet and these lawsuits were just damn stupid."

A few minutes later, after I had successfully pulled myself out of the swimming pool which I had been unceremoniously tossed into, I had hoped that cooler heads would prevail on this topic.

Paul then asked if I had stopped reading the papers or if I was only joking. When I told him "No, this was really my opinion" his buddy Brian, who plays bass, asked if I was either mentally challenged or just loved the water? Before I could answer him, I found myself being thrown in the pool yet again. This time numerous beach balls were being thrown mercilessly in the direction of my bobbing head in the water. This was not good.

Later as I was drying myself off, I realized that this topic was perhaps a "sore spot" for these gentlemen and noticing that they were very anxious to be involved in either a good beating or a calm conversation, I thought I would continue but choose my words very carefully.

I explained in detail my point about being a responsible downloader and always making the purchase later on in one format or another.

Paul however gave me the musicians side of the story which included millions of dollars in lost revenue due to piracy and pointed out it is not just the bands that feel the loss but everyone involved in the production and distribution of the music itself.

Brian then interjected by calling it blatant theft and that it was simply "taking food out of his & other musicians mouths"

In looking around Paul's huge backyard and multi-million dollar home, I felt that Brian's statement was maybe a stretch at best & a hard argument to win and although the point he was trying to make was quite valid, how he said it was not.

For fear of having yet another unrequested visit to the bottom of the pool, I thought it best not to mention that little point at this time.

I then pointed out that if you want to talk about theft, what about VCR's, are people that use them (which included everyone poolside) to be considered blatant thieves for violating a copy write law to record their stupid TV programs?

The guys reluctantly conceded to that point, but continued to imply that the music industry is entirely different.

My counter-argument however was a true example from my Dad's world. Dad, who loves listening to Frank Sinatra has purchased the song first on a single, then an album, then a cassette tape, then an 8-track tape then a CD. So now the old guy has purchased the same song at least 5 times and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has the nerve to call the man a thief and threaten legal action if he wants the identical song in a different format like MP3. Who exactly are the thieves here anyway ?

Hopefully that little story gave the guys a tiny bit of education and exposure to both sides of this ongoing argument. I agree that, as Brian and Paul state, most people downloading are not like me or my Dad however I think we all agreed that there has to be a better way to solve this problem then to arrest and pursue legal action against teenagers and others over this situation.

Since that days discussion the guys never tossed me into the pool again which may either be because I educated them a little that afternoon or more probably, because the topic just never came up again during my visit.

I'd like to think it was the former. Although I did kind of omit the part that my Dad rarely goes near a computer and has no use or patience for them ever since his pension cheque got lost back in 2001. He has branded all computers evil since that day as he holds them responsible for the inconvenience. He also thinks that an MP3 is either some kind of new military police terminology or a new European sports car. I have never bothered to tell Dad any differently.

Before anyone asks, here are a couple of programs that are apparently great for finding music. You should be able to find links to these free download programs by doing a search on GOOGLE. These of course, should be used only by responsible downloaders. If you do not fit into that category, please close your eyes now. Right now.

Kazaa Lite K++
LimeWire

The above are only two of thousand of programs you can use, but these ones are said to be quite good.   Not that I will ever admit publicly to using these programs however I may know people who may know people.......