Downloads should be free for everyone

Instead of trying to reduce the number of free music downloads on the internet, the government should be trying to increase them (Costs to British economy of free downloads is revealed, 29 May). Digitisation and the internet have turned copyright law into an appallingly restrictive anachronism. Information technology gives us the potential to provide free and universal access to almost all human knowledge, art and entertainment, yet the government's response is to worry about the loss of profits. Set against that loss are the millions of people enjoying music, films, the written and spoken word, computer software and access to information who would otherwise have gone without.
The only obstacle to providing universal free access to all digital products is finding a way of paying their creators without restricting access to what they produce. That is the problem David Lammy, the minister for intellectual property, should be trying to solve. The present system is as restrictive as it would be if we had to pay item by item for each radio or TV programme we tuned into. Perhaps we need a publicly funded agency that would offer to buy copyright for the nation. Let us try to maximise access to human knowledge and creativity and do it in such a way that it benefits everyone. Richard WilkinsonTadcaster, North Yorkshire
It is disingenuous to suggest putting a figure on how much illegal downloading has cost the economy. Presumably, the money being saved on not paying for recorded music is either being spent on something else (quite possibly on live music and festivals), or being looked after by banks that dearly need more savers. Despite what the music industry want us to believe, illegal downloading has a purely positive impact on everyone involved except the middleman: the soon-to-be-redundant industry itself. Kasper LurcockBristol
Illegal downloads may cost the music industry a small fortune but let's not pretend that it has a similar effect on the economy as a whole. And, if they weren't free, what proportion of those estimated 890m downloads would actually result in a sale?Charles DorinLondon
I trust that none of the 7 million people who, through illegal downloading, have cost the economy billions of pounds and thousands of jobs, are to be found among those who are currently hounding MPs.Alan PavelinChislehurst, Kent