Thank you for edumacating me on the current status of recording at home, I never would have figured that one out.
Jack Conte is making money on the new business model. That's not the issue here. The issue is content that is owned by someone else. Jack can do this because he retained all the rights to his stuff. There are countless places where I can post music, put a price on it, and watch people ignore me; but I still own 100% of the rights to the music. Go back 20 years ago; and those artists didn't have an outlet like the internet, so they are reliant on collecting under the old model. Shouldn't they collect what is theirs?
Let's move this up into the next century. It's 2112, you're a knife maker. Pictures of your knife are on whatever social media is in place of the internet. I like the knife so I find a file sharing site that has hacked your site, copied your plans and posted them on the current Pirate Bay. I drop those plans into my nifty gadget the builds me a knife based on those plans. Cool, I have a great knife and it didn't cost me anything. I think I'll make some for my friends. Maybe other people will see these knives and go to a store and actually pourchase one. Though, probably not. Why pay for something when you can get it legally(lol) for free.
Who's protecting your intellectual property? How do you collect payment for your product?
This is the same type of thing that's going on now with music, books, movies, etc.