Since the Federal Court decision on 31 March, Internet piracy has been rampant. The Tragically Hip, one of Canada's treasured cultural assets, was one of the hardest hit. During a five-week stretch from 30 March to 7 May, there were more than half a million unauthorized attempts to download the new Tragically Hip single, "Vaccination Scar". Overall, during this period, Universal Music reported 2.8 million attempts to illegally download The Tragically Hip’s recordings. During the same period fewer than 1,000 copies were purchased legally online.

The Tragically Hip launched "Vaccination Scar" 10 April 2004 at the second game of the Ottawa-Toronto National Hockey League play-off series as teaser for its upcoming album Inbetween evolution (Universal Music). The lead single was simultaneously released to radio stations across the country and also made available through for legal download at online sites for 99 cents.

"Any reasonable person will be staggered by the disparity in those numbers," commented GordSinclair of the Hip. "The grim economic reality aside, it shows how widespread the practice of downloading has become. Don't get me wrong. Anything that gets people into music is okay with me, but at some point people have to recognize their role in the creative process. To me it's an ethical question. If you hear something you like, go out and support the artist. Tell your friends, see a show and buy their records. Your support helps the artist continue to create and it funds the discovery and development of new artists and new music. If you do your part, we'll all benefit," he concluded.

This news follows hard on the heels of a recent national survey by POLLARA Inc. . conducted between 12 and 19 April and released by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) 3 May 2004 . showing that approximately nine out of ten Canadians believe that recording artists and songwriters have a right to copyright protection, and that a significant majority of Canadians believe that it is illegal to upload music files on the Internet, despite the recent Federal Court decision to the contrary.

Juno Award winner Jann Arden reacted to the news, saying, "Downloading music from the Internet is ironically the hope, and alarmingly the impending decay and destruction, of the music industry. Unless these downloads are monitored and artists are compensated for their work, there will be NO work to download. None of us, as writers and performers, can afford to keep making the music that has always, and will always, make the world a little easier to swallow in troubled times. We cannot play if we are not paid. Illegal downloads must be halted and those offenders punished in a court of law. This issue is very serious and should be given much more respect and attention than it has received in this country. Canada is a country that produces some of the world's biggest selling artists; artists who pay a hell of a lot of taxes. Tell me that it is not in the best interests of this government to go after their lost revenue."

"Everyone seems to think this is just hurting the labels and the superstars, so who cares? Wrong. People who download music have friends playing music in clubs in their hometowns and those people are never going to get record deals because record companies won't have sold enough records to support a new artist," added Kathleen Edwards, a prominent Canadian recording artist.

Ed Robertson of The Barenaked Ladies, expressed these views: "I'm totally fine with people downloading music, as long as they steal everything that they want. If you want pants, go steal them. If you need gas in your car, you should steal it, because you can. As long as people are consistent I don't have a problem. As long as they see themselves as thieves in general then I don't mind if they steal everything that they like. But it irks me that it's only okay to steal music."

"If an artist goes to the trouble to pay for the recording and manufacturing of a CD, you can bet they're expecting to sell them. What are people thinking? When, exactly, did it become alright in our society to select one group of people and openly, specifically, declare that their work is, literally, worthless? Something that costs nothing has no value . by definition," said Mike Campbell, manager of The Joel Plaskett Emergency.

"This is one of the most blatant illegal online exploitations of a single recording in the history of the Canadian music industry," commented Brian Robertson, CRIA President. "It underlines, again, the vulnerability of our artists, creators and producers to the lawlessness of the Internet in Canada and the need for federal politicians and bureaucrats to move far more expeditiously than they have in the past to update Canada’s woefully inadequate Copyright Act." "The current situation is particularly harmful to Canadian artists as well as the thousands of Canadians whose livelihoods and businesses are linked to music," says Puretracks co-CEO and founder, Alistair Mitchell. "Our political leaders need to stand up for Canada's cultural heritage while we continue our work to build a legal digital download business based on respect for artists' rights."

The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) is a non-profit trade association representing the interests of Canadian companies that create, manufacture and market sound recordings. CRIA’s membership includes the major record companies, leading independent labels, and all manufacturers of compact discs and tapes. In all they represent 95 per cent of the sound recordings that are manufactured and sold in Canada.