Well, that's what a slew of blogs are making it out to be. In an interview to Mirror, Rock legend Prince said:

" The internet's completely over. I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it."

This has drawn the ire of some of the commentators in the blogosphere. However, I wouldn't jump to conclusion so quickly before reading him in context.

What Prince has said is a wake up call to the way Internet business happens these days. At one end RIAA is busy fighting online piracy and the case of Hurt Locker seems to be setting a trend of its own. Then there are complex laws proposed such as the "Three Strikes Anti-Piracy Law."

IT and entertainment companies are touting a number of DRM schemes none of which have been practical. Amidst all this, iTunes seems to have struck a chord.

So what Prince is saying is more from Internet as a distribution medium. There is a grain of truth in what the rock legend says. Internet is caught in a Catch-22 situation.

If artists and studios demand that stringer laws be brought in to deal with anti-piracy then it becomes so difficult and complex to enforce it on the ground. In the absence of such laws, artists and studios may still make it difficult to get their work online legally.

We cannot wish away this problem. It is real and now. So how do we deal with it. Thanks Prince for bringing it up.