i used to download a lot of free, illegal music. first from napster, then from kazaa and then from limewire. however, when limewire began infecting my computer with viruses, i stopped.

since that time (perhaps 2-3 years ago), i have, for the most part, obtained my music legally. well, kinda. a lot of it comes from friends. and however they acquire music...well, that's a bit of a "don't ask, don't tell" policy (the only one about which i feel morally decent).

the point of all this is that i recently bought 2 albums from amazon: felt 3 by slug and murs and the soundtrack to crazy heart. and neither of these albums came in a plastic jewel case. both were packaged in cheap-o, crappy cardboard.

i look at this as a chicken-or-the-egg situation. on the one hand, the music industry isn't doing so hot. and i would assume these cardboard cases cost a lot less to manufacture than the shiny, plastic jewel cases. on the other hand, these cardboard cases give me just another reason not to purchase music.

when i know i could get what i'm buying for free (and the packaging is cheap and adds nothing to the product), i'm getting ripped off and i know it.