Universal's CEO Doug Morris gave an interview to Reuters about UMG's strong-arm strategies in which he explains to the press how he understands piracy, and was once on the wrong end of the law himself. "When I was at college I used to jimmy the phones and make a long distance call. All my friends would do the same thing so, I get it", Morris quips.

I don't know -- and can't find information about -- Doug Morris' age, but I'm going to guess he's in his mid to late 50's. That means when Doug was in college and stealing long distance, it was from a monopolistic industry who were charging exorbitant amounts for their product. Then technology changed, the law changed and, AT&T was no longer able to extort $2 a minute for a call from New York to LA. We're seeing a similar shift now in Morris' industry. As technology has changed the distribution, production, packaging and sale of a record has dropped dramatically, opening the playing field to upstarts much as long distance became open to Sprint and MCI. The majors are no longer able to extort $17 per CD sold, as they once were.

So maybe Doug really does understand, he just understands on a level beyond what one might imagine. Morris may not have intended to parallel his industry to the fate of pre-divestiture AT&T, but by doing so he shows us a roadmap to the future of music. Lower costs to consumers, wider competition and a broadened, democratized playing field. That, not piracy, is the bigger threat to Universal and the future of major labels.

I, for one, say let the market work. If the shifting tide of the music business means the majors shrink in size to 75% of what they currently are, so be it. What we cannot allow are bullies like Morris to shove the future of the music business in a direction that maintains their oligarchal style control of an industry that is finally, after nearly a full century of struggle, managing to wiggle out from beneath the boot heels of the major label system.