The economics of "piracy"

Cory Doctorow on Boing Boing has responded to an interesting article that looks at how some piracy allow for more net revenue to vendors.

The only exception I take to Chris's argument is the idea that some "copy-protection" (DRM) technology can reduce downloading. The thing is, if I want to download a song instead of buying it, then all I require is a search tool and a copy of that song that someone, somewhere has cracked. It doesn't matter how strong or weak the DRM is on the copy that I choose not to buy -- all that matters is how much resource one cracker, somewhere in the world, was willing to devote to breaking the DRM. The first copy may be very expensive, but all subsequent copies are free.

Interesting reading.