I think one huge aspect is that anyone can get people listening. In the past, other than paying for studio time or buying expensive 4/8/16 track recorders and being extremely lucky with the Radio 1 John Peel Show, generally only performing musicians and signed acts could be heard. Nowadays, anyone can download some free software, record through any old microphone, tidy it up with a bit more software and upload it to a site such as this. Then the promotion is pretty much free too, you just have to put the effort in. Sending virtual flyers for example of new music, done in a few clicks. Good results for little technical knowledge. As to whether people are being paid for their efforts, professionally or otherwise, i.e. illegal downloads, theft is theft in my opinion. Should this be enforced? A tricky one. Was making 'illegal' cassettes before the advent of the interent so vehemently enforced? Nope. For me, the jury is out on this one...