the ethics of pirate blogging

i came across another site today that provides illegal links to music for download. my friend mentioned this to me as supposedly one of the largest pirate sites about. just a quick look suggests that this is probably the case: the catalogue of releases available for a 'cheeky' is pretty serious (both the categories 'minimal' and 'techno' each have over 1,000 posts). admittedly, the problems of illegal downloads for techno have been well rehearsed and there is no need to go over them again. and clearly a site that links one single track to download is different from one that provides a regular stream of full releases - eps, lps, the works. but for me, what separates the site in question from these others is that this one actually has the nerve to advertise. i dont want to get into the ethics of illegal downloading and what that means is terms of stealing from artists, but this site is on a whole other level - actually profiting from providing this music for free. it even actually has an email address to contact about advertising on the site! the site's catch phrase is 'all we know is music', but clearly they also know a thing or two about making a quick buck on the side. i find something really repulsive about all of this - the blatantness of it, the complete disrespect for the artists by happily providing whole back catalogues, and actually seeking to profit from all of this. i am not trying to get too high and mighty - i admit i've had downloaded music from such blogs, but i feel this site in particular, especially as they are actually profiting from it, is on a different level: there is something seriously wrong about all of this...

chris