Same for the film industry. Piracy is common consumption, law has had no power in this billion dollar industry, and yet this industry is striving. I say, companies should be allowed to protect their films with the DRM they want, but once the film is in the open, the law shouldn’t try to protect it from being copied. So you’d just pay to be among the first to see the movie, in a good quality, and the rest of peer-to-peer would be legal.
IP law and patents is a weird contraption, making very little money compared to what it costs, and a major risk to any innovating company. IP law is a major drag on our industry, that’s not even respected by our real competitors.
The theory is: Nobody will invent anything if they don't have a monopoly on the idea. As if without patents, someone would have a great idea and say "I'm not going to invent this thing and become a millionaire, because someone else might copy it cheaply and become a bigger millionaire! Nope, rather just keep stocking shelves!"