Originally Posted by: Hamberg...and shuting down Napster really does appear to be the stupidest thing that The music industry has ever dealt with.

The operating word here is "appear". Nothing has changed since Napster was taken down.(except that now you have the possibility to download legally. ie iTunes)
P2P software still exists, illegal downloading of music still occurs,... In other words, bands still have plenty of choices when it comes to distributing their music for free on the internet, if they choose to use it as a marketing strategy...

Illegal downloading of music isn't a black and white situation, it probably has its benefits, and it probably has its negative side, but anyone who claims to know which side of the scale carries the biggest weight is talking out of their ass. There are too many factors to consider that make it impossible to know the effect illegal downloading exactly has on the music industry.