Song wars

I'm sure piracy bashers everywhere will have been pleased to see this week that Scotland has collared its first illegal downloader, in the shape of 58-year-old nurse Anne Muir. Take that! And don't take Take That!

In 2008 the British Phonographic Industry and the International Federation for the Phonographic Industry launched an investigation into the grandmother from Ayr. And, some three years later, I'm sure they'll be delighted to see all their hard work come to fruition in the shape of a three-year probation sentence.

After Muir was arrested, police found her computer contained more than 7,000 music tracks and almost 25,000 karaoke numbers. Her lawyer stressed that she had not made any money from filesharing and had only done so to recover her self esteem after suffering from depression. Or, maybe, she just, like, enjoys music and stuff and doesn't want to pay for it?

I guess there's a lot of nuances and complex ins and outs that a decidedly non-legal eagle like me just doesn't appreciate.