In trying to avoid piracy, can you still misstep?

Following on Hayma's recent post about stopping piracy, I agree, the world of downloading music is rife with challenges. While many songs are available for download on legitimate sources-- the Beatles are not! Though there are several blogs out there simply dedicated to tracking when this group will show up on iTunes, for now, any speculation appears to be mere rumor. A few days ago, however, an article came out claiming that a new website, Bluebeat.com, was releasing legal downloads of Beatles' music for only $.25! This news broke on October 30th, yet when I tried to get to the website, my browser's search just timed out. After some more Internet digging, I found this article, that reveals on November 5th, a judge ordered that the site remove all the Beatles music. This decision was set in motion after several record labels filed a suit, alleging that BlueBeat "engaged in music piracy of the most blatant and harmful kind." You would think this would be an open and closed case, but the site tried to mount a defense, claiming that they used a process called "psycho acoustic stimulation" to digitally record their own versions of the Beatles' tracks. Does anyone understand the term? I certainly don't, but Bluebeat tried to use this as a loophole to escape legal problems, though it appears that at least for now, no one was buying that argument.

What the articles do not address is what happens to the people that did purchase music off this site. For me, this case raises important questions about the level of due diligence that is now placed on the consumer. If people believe they are downloading songs in good faith, should they be punished for not looking further? How much fact-checking do we need to engage in? I think these questions extend beyond the realm of music as well. I had a friend that bought a designer bag from a website that claimed to be unloading discount merchandise, when in fact, it was just selling fakes. She could hardly tell the difference in terms of quality, but she was toting pirated goods around! It seems this is a new realm of "grey" that we have entered-- and I don't think the solution is simple...